Locket
by Memoryloss
Summary: AU. Sasori works for the Government. Deidara hates the Government. With a locket, an illegal magic competition and many encounters, Sasori develops feelings for Deidara. Yet if his true identity is discovered, he and Deidara's relationship will be broken.
1. The Locket

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

Summary: AU. The annual Grand Magical Competition is about to begin, and the Konoha government wants to stop it. Team Defence is sent to stop the competition. To Sasori, it seems easy, but when a mysterious fighter injures him, his whole perspective and life changes.

_Raintrees: I decided to write a story which includes magic powers, hopefully I wrote it ok :D_

**Chapter 1**

Leader Tsunade was sitting in her workchair in her large office. In front of her desk stood several hooded figures. None of them spoke a single word, and they looked very solemn. They were the renowned secret force, Team Defence. All of them were specialised in magic and defence moves, and had been called in by Tsunade to deal with a special matter - The Grand Magical Competition, to be held in a month's time.

"So, have you found out anything about the competition and the teams yet?" asked Tsunade, looking at the team.

A pink-haired fighter nodded her head. "Tsunade-sama, we have checked up on all the teams and the competition dates. We will be entering the competition too in secret, using code names, and we will be able to analyze the competitors by this. As soon as we do, we will catch them all in one swoop and disable their powers."

Tsunade nodded. "Good, Sakura. The competitors should know better that to hold magic competitions illegally. The competition might harm the local citizens, so I would like you to prevent any damage that may be caused by the competition."

At this point, Kiba stepped forward. He clapped his hands twice and drew a circle in the air. A glowing circle appeared out of nowhere and Kiba snapped his fingers. A scroll fell into his hands and he presented it to Tsunade, who immediately unrolled it and read it carefully. She smiled in satisfaction.

"This is the scroll of the competitors group names and members, as well as their powers," said Kiba.

"Good job, Team Defence. I knew that you all were the most reliable and powerful force around. I'm sure you all will be able to carry out your mission smoothly."

"It was nothing, Tsunade-sama," said the entire team, bowing their heads.

"Well, I have some outsider information for all of you," said Shizune, Tsunade's most trusted assistant, "there seems to be rumours spreading around that it is the 'newbie acceptance year', and each team is allowed to accept newbies into their group. I would like you to find out more about these newbies as well."

"Yes, we will do as you have said," replied the whole team.

"Well then, everyone, you all are dismissed," finished Tsunade.

Bowing their heads, the whole group of hooded figures stretched out one of their palms, used a basic wind teleportation skill and disappeared with a gust of wind.

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The dark night was like a sheet of black cloth covering illuminated city, with a nice round full moon gently stroking the buildings with its soft moonlight. The city was bustling below, and quiet and windy at the top. Standing on the top of the highest building in the city, Sasori Akasuna looked down at the well-lit streets and bright lights. His cloak was fluttering in the wind, and he still had his hood on. The city was so complicated - with lies, deception and pain, yet it was all covered with the glamour and beauty of the colourful lights, advertisement banners, flashing large plasma screens and materialistic dreams. This was why he had chosen to dedicate his life to fighting and practising magic, and live a life without much thought, save for his missions. His only goal, though, was to be the best fighter in the whole city, so that he could kill his only kin, his grandmother, who had chosen to dump him in the city dump when he was only two years old.

He looked down at the city, sighing as the wind blew through his short red hair, blowing his hood down. He looked like a child, even though he was already twenty years old. One of the best fighters in Team Defence, he had dedicated his life to the organization since he was ten. He had been trained in such a way that in his mind, there was only his missions, his goals and his targets. But ever since he had met the rest of Team Defence, they had melted a portion of his ice-cold heart. Now, the only part frozen was the hatred he held for his grandmother.

As Sasori remained deep in thought, he didn't notice Sakura walking up to him. The pink-haired girl was one of the beauties in the whole defence and attacking departments. She had beautiful shiny green eyes and cherry-blossom pink hair, and was strong-willed and a little tomboyish. She had super strength and a persuasive voice, and had many suitors from various departments chasing after her. She received as many as five confessions a month, but turned them all down, all because of one redhead. Yes, Sakura loved the quiet Sasori very much, and decided that she would not accept anyone's love except for his.

"What's up?" she asked, looking at the redhead with concern.

Sasori turned to face the speaker. "Ah, Sakura," he said.

"You don't look so good, Sasori," Sakura said, removing her hood, "is something the matter?"

"Nothing," came the reply, "I just have a feeling that something is going to happen tonight."

Sakura looked questioningly at the redhead, but said nothing. As the wind blew strongly at her cloak and soulder length hair, her cellphone rang. She picked it up quickly as soon as she saw that it was Shino.

"Yes, Shino?"

_"Sakura, are you with anyone right now?"_

"Yeah, Sasori."

_"Good. We have spotted a competitor called Tobi, and Hinata and Ino are currently chasing after him. He appears to be heading towards the city area. Go now with Sasori to capture him!" _

"Alright." Sakura ended the call and turned to Sasori, who was looking at her.

"Shino called?"

"Yes, and he wants us to catch a certain competitor called Tobi. According to the files, he wears an orange swirly mask, and had short spiky hair. He's heading for the city right now, which is where we both are. Lets go find him now," said Sakura.

Sasori nodded, and the two attackers leapt off the tall building into the night.

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"You won't get away, scumbag!"

Ino gritted her teeth as she performed yet another fire spell and aimed the fireball at the orange-masked competitor, Tobi. Tobi was running and leaping around the city so fast that Ino could hardly catch up with his movements. He aimed a blast of water at Ino, but it missed barely by a few inches. Ino wasn't going to lose, too.

"Hinata, use the lightning spell to trap him in the next alley!" she called out to her partner, a white-eyed girl who was chasing the competitor as well.

Hinata complied, and balled her hands into fists. Lightning sparks began to fly from her hands as they began to glow. Soon, she had two shards of lightning in her fists. Taking a careful aim, she threw them at Tobi, and hit him on the back.

"Argh!"

"Nice one, Hinata!" Sakura called out, as she appeared from nowhere and landed beside Tobi, giving him a huge punch to knock him out. But as she hit the man, he disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

"It's a shadow clone!" yelled Ino in anger, looking around for Tobi. But he was nowhere to be seen. He had escaped.

Sasori, on the other hand, had notice Tobi escaping from the girls. He quickly followed Tobi, and as they leapt from building to building, Sasori quickly used a "puppeteer technique". Strings of electricity formed at the tips of his fingers and branched out like long ropes, aiming for Tobi. The technique succeeded, and Tobi was caught by the strings. Moving his fingers deftly like a puppet master, Sasori managed to slam the competitor down into a deserted alley.

"Ouch," mumbled Tobi, rubbing his head weakly as Sasori landed a few metres in front of him. "Oh crap," he gasped, looking at the redhead. There was no escape now. There were no loopholes for him to make shadow clones, or escape using a wind teleportation technique. He was doomed.

"Glad you know that you are doomed," said Sasori coldly as he advanced nearer to Tobi. A ball of fire was slowly forming in his hand. It was black fire, one of the deadliest fires of the magic world. If you got burnt by it, your wound would never recover.

Tobi looked frantically around for an escape route, but there was none. "You twerp..." he muttered, unable to fight back. His legs and hands were injured by the electric strings, and whenever he moved them, he felt pain in his body.

"You're going back with me," said Sasori, the ball of fire in his hands getting bigger and bigger by the second. Tobi gulped as Sasori came closer. Surely this wasn't the end...

Well, it wasn't, lucky for Tobi.

Suddenly, a cloaked figure landed in front of Tobi and gave Sasori a swift kick. Sasori was pushed back by the force of the kick, as the cloaked figure quickly clapped his hands once and stretched out his palm. a huge blast of water was shot at Sasori, extinguishing the ball of black fire in his hand. Sasori bit his lip as he saw the flame go out. This guy was clearly another competitor who knew magic!

Sasori stood back and clapped his hands thrice. A huge flame appeared out of nowhere, and he directed it towards the cloaked figure. This attack should do it, thought Sasori.

But no, it didn't work. The cloaked figure quickly stretched out his hands and a weird gun-like machine dropped into his hands. Aiming it at the ball of fire, the cloaked figure quickly fired the trigger and a blast of black mist swallowed the whole fire, stunning Sasori altogether. A few seconds later, the redhead gained composure, and ran forward, not caring about the mist anymore. He saw the cloaked figure carrying Tobi in his arms, ready to leave the alley, but Sasori wasn't going to let that happen. He reached for a small kunai and threw at at the cloaked figure, pinning the cloak to the wall. The cloak tore a little, revealing the figure's blue shiny eyes and long golden hair. The person gasped.

Sasori stared at the figure. It was a girl, or so he thought. But from his voice, Sasori could tell that it was actually a guy. The person's long fringe covered half of his face, and a long black cloth covered his nose and mouth. Sasori couldn't make out who the person was, but was sure that he had never ever seen the person before. He was dumbfounded for a moment, as the person's long shiny hair reflected the pale moonlight.

Seizing this chance, the cloaked figure broke himself free from the wall, grabbed the kunai and tossed it into the air. It turned into a clay bird, which fluttered to Sasori's side quickly. Casting one final glance at Sasori, the figure muttered "Katsu", and watched as the clay bird exploded with a huge bang, clouding the whole alley with smoke and dust. Sasori coughed and covered his mouth and nose with his cloak sleeve, making a futile attempt to advance forward. His arm was injured by the blast, and the smoke was too thick; he didn't even know where he was going, and there was no time to wear his smoke vision goggles.

The cloaked figure then carried Tobi and leapt away from the alley hastily. As he did so, his waist belt accidentally caught onto the barbed wire of wire fence in the alley, and a small keychain dropped onto the floor. But he did not notice this; he quickly fled the alley.

Minutes later, when the smoke had cleared, Sasori ran towards the barbed wire fence. But it was too late - the cloaked figure and Tobi were gone. There was no one in the dark alley except for him. As he walked to the fence, cursing silently, his feet kicked something which sounded like metal. This got his attention; he looked down to see what it was. So, it was a small metal keychain, with a small metal bird dangling from the metal ring, as well as a small locket. Sasori picked it up slowly, and fingered it, feeling strange. Whose keychain was this? It certainly hadn't been there when he was alone with Tobi in the alley.

Suddenly, it dawned on the redhead that the keychain was the golden-haired boy's. He gripped it tightly in his hand, and looked at the locket. Curiously, he opened the locket delicately, only to find a soft, sweet melody playing, making him relax. It was a music box locket.

Sasori decided that he would keep this keychain instead of handing it over to Tsunade.

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Meanwhile, in an apartment in the darker part of the city, a certain group called the Akatsuki - the members were discussing some things when the door opened suddenly. A cloaked figure entered the room as all the fourteen pairs of eyes rested on him.

"Hey, what's up, Deidara?" asked Kakuzu, looking at Tobi.

The cloaked figure sighed, and removed his hood. He laid Tobi on an empty couch, and groaned as he saw the latter sleeping away.

"He got himself into trouble with Team Defence. I guess he let his guard down."

The group leader, Pein, looked sharply at Tobi, who was drooling all over the couch. "He's really given us a lot of trouble. Deidara, it's been hard on you. You don't look so good. And your cheek is bleeding."

Deidara shook his head. "It's nothing, Pein. A kunai injured me. It's just that - I guess I lost my keychain during the fight with one of the members from Team Defence...I just realized it when we were about to reach this apartment."

Konan looked concerned. "You should really go take a rest. The competition starts in a month's time. You need to save your energy for it - we don't want you to tire yourself out while training the newbie. Don't worry about the keychain, I'll try to help you find it."

Deidara gave a weak smile. "Thanks, Konan," he replied gratefully, and retired to his room. As he took off his ripped cloak and threw it on his study table, he lay down on his bed, feeling tired. He didn't feel so good losing the keychain; it had been his most prized possession. The sound of the music in the keychain would always lull him to sleep, and pull him through his darkest hours. Now he was without it, he felt a little uncomfortable.

But he knew that he had no time to worry about it - anyway, it seemed that it was gone for good already. Though he felt sad, there was no time to find the keychain. He had lots of practicing to do for the competition, and he didn't want to let his team down by losing. A keychain couldn't get in the way of his practice.

Little did he know that his keychain was in Sasori's hands, and that the keychain would come back to him someday.


	2. Second encounter

**Chapter 2**

* * *

It was morning.

Sasori stretched lazily as he went into his small kitchen to get a glass of milk. It was a beautiful warm, sunny Saturday, and the rays of the morning sun were shining on the metal kitchen sink, reflecting light in Sasori's eyes. He ruffled his messy hair sleepily and reached out a hand to open the refrigerator door, only to realise that there wasn't any milk. This called for a trip to the supermarket.

The redhead's refrigerator was practically empty. He had been so tired and busy over the past few days that he hadn't bothered to restock his food supply. He didn't really care about food that much; after all, he had been so tired out by his missions and work that the moment he got home all he did was lie down on his bed and fall into a deep sleep. But there wasn't any milk - the drink which gave him his energy, strength and calcium. He needed milk.

Grabbing his black jacket and cellphone, he gulped down a glass of water and went out the door. As he walked down the street, a red sports car pulled up beside him. It turned out to be Sakura. She was wearing a cherry-red dress and chic ballet flats, with a pair of apple earrings to match. Looking up at Sasori, she smiled and took off her sunglasses.

"Need a ride?" she asked, both hands on the steering wheel.

Sasori looked at the pink-haired lady. "That wouldn't be very nice."

"Why, it's no trouble for me at all. Come on, hop in," Sakura said, patting the leather seat beside her, "where are you going?"

"The supermarket."

"Hey? I'm on my way to the office to pick up some documents. I could give you a lift. Come on, don't say no."

Sasori agreed. After all, it was faster to go by car then walk to the supermarket. His stomach was growling; he couldn't wait to get the milk and some other groceries. He got into the posh car and Sakura sped off, leaving a cloud of dust behind.

Five minutes later, Sakura had parked her car at the parking lot outside the supermarket, and had gone to get some parking coupons. Sasori wandered into the huge store, and was met by shelves of bottles and tin cans, and packets of foodstuffs. A colourful display of items were set before his very eyes. He absent-mindedly fumbled for a small coin in his jacket pocket, and inserted it into a coin slot in a nearby trolley. Pushing it towards the 'dairy products' section, his eyes scanned for any existing milk carton, and as soon as he found it, he unconsciously stretched out a hand to take it. His hand was about to reach the carton when another hand hit his own.

"Ah...I'm sorry. You wanted this?"

Sasori looked to his right. Beside him stood a young teenager wearing a dark blue cap, a loose black shirt with a logo on it, and a pair of jeans. His long golden hair cascaded down his shoulders like golden thread, and his eyes were like blue gems. Sasori couldn't help staring for a moment. He looked very feminine, but was clearly a boy. He looked kind of familiar though, the teenager.

"It's ok, there are so many cartons here, I can take another carton," replied Sasori, slowly withdrawing his outstretched hand.

"You take this one, since you saw it first," said the teenager taking a carton of juice and putting it into his trolley, "I'll take juice."

"You can take it - "

"It's ok," insisted the boy, pushing his trolley away, "after all, you and me have over 10 cartons of milk to choose from. There's no hurry - they won't run away."

Sasori stared at the boy's back. He didn't know if the boy meant what he just said as a joke. And the boy looked a little familiar. He was lost in a daze when he suddenly felt a soft tap on his shoulder.

"What are you staring at?" a familiar voice asked.

The redhead snapped out of his daze. It was Sakura, with her trolley loaded with pasta, tomato sauce, seaweed and other things. She was looking at Sasori with curious eyes.

"Uh, nothing. Just someone who almost took the same milk carton as me." Sasori proceeded to take three cartons of milk and put them in his trolley.

"Hmm, really," said Sakura thoughtfully as she took a bottle of pomegranate juice, "well, how about this; after we're done, you could come to my house for lunch. I'm planning on cooking seafood pasta today before I go back to the office. You have to go back too, right?"

"Mn. Preparing for tonight's meeting."

"OK then, so its a deal. We'll go together." Sakura winked and pushed her trolley off to the seafood section, leaving Sasori behind. He looked in the direction of where the young teenager had gone. How familiar he looked...

* * *

Deidara arrived home at noon, lugging heavy groceries. A few weeks later, he would be competing with some of the city's best magic users and defence attackers; he wasn't sure if was excited about it. Life seemed the same as before; he had to buy groceries, go to school, do homework, practice his magic...it was just that the practice sessions with his team mates were more tedious and serious. Opening the fridge, he loaded it with fresh vegetables, fruits, juice, puddings and other items. Sigh, the joy of being the youngest member in the Akatsuki. This was stupid; Tobi was just two days older than him, so why shouldn't Tobi share the burden with him too? Gathering the reusable grocery bags, he stood up and made his way to his bedroom.

The Akatsuki and the rest of the teams competing in the GMC were supposed to meet at Relax!Cafe at 6pm that day. It was to draw lots - to know which team would be competing with which team. By then, the shop owner would close the shop and give all the competitors the much-needed hiding place to secretly carry out their lot-drawing. Deidara sighed, and took out a sling-bag from his closet, and started to pack his things. Tonight, he would go by the code name "Katsu", as it wasn't safe to use his real name.

He looked at the pile of homework waiting for him on his desk, and groaned. He had so many assignments to complete, yet so little time. How did Tobi ever manage to complete all his homework on time? What a mystery, and what an annoyance.

He gathered his cloak from the bedside table and snapped his fingers. A threaded needle appeared out of nowhere and her took it quickly, mending his torn cloak. The redhead had which he had seen that morning - he was a government defence force member. And the redhead had destroyed his cloak partially. Scowling at the memory of Sasori, Deidara snapped the thread with his fingers and tied a small knot. Luckily the tear wasn't very big, or he'd have to save up to buy some more cloth to make a brand new cloak.

Just then, Hidan popped his head into the room and smirked. "Hey, Deidara-chan, come out after you've finished packing your things, okay? We're setting off soon."

Deidara groaned. Everything was so rushed - just after he had come back from the supermarket, Pein wanted to leave already? He barely had any time to take a rest or complete some homework! But he knew that Pein's word was final, so he grabbed his things and went out into the living room. As soon as the team leader saw him, he nodded in approval, opened the door and walked out of the apartment.

The Akatsuki walked down the street slowly. There was no hurry; after all, they were early for the meeting. But Pein wanted to make sure that the group wouldn't be late for the meeting. He was a responsible, decisive person who never allowed things to go wrong. For such an important meeting, he would never dream of being late for it.

"So, who do you think we will be competing against?" asked Zetsu as they walked past an antique shop.

"Hopefully Square2, or Oto-nin. I'd really like to thrash Orochimaru; I wanted to punch him last year in the locker rooms but he stopped me!" Hidan glared at Kakuzu.

"Well, no violence, Hidan," said Konan, "we almost got disqualified because you threw a table at Kabuto."

"He deserved it, that horrible man!" Hidan growled, as he remembered the sly-looking, bespectacled member of Oto-nin, "he was taunting us!"

"Just remember, don't resort to unnecessary violence this year, Hidan," Pein reminded him.

"Tobi will make sure that Hidan-san doesn't do anything wrong!" Tobi said cheerfully as Deidara whacked his head hard.

"Shut up, Tobi. Learn to shut up or I'll shut you up," the golden-haired boy said irritatedly.

"Aww, Sempai! Tobi is a good boy!"

"You obviously aren't, so just keep your mouth shut."

Hidan grinned. "The lovers squabble," he whispered to Kakuzu as both of them sniggered.

Deidara was about to say something in protest when he saw Pein give him a do-not-resort-to-violence look. Quickly, he took a deep breath and tried to calm himself down. He knew what Pein was like when irritated, and did not want to bring out the bad side of the orange-haired guy.

Finally, the group reached the gloomy-looking cafe. There were a few cloaked figures sitting inside already, and the cafe-owner was preparing to close the shop for the day. As Pein pushed the glass door open, many pairs of eyes rested on him and his gang. The small bell attached to the iron handle of the glass door tinkled softly as the Akatsuki members filed inside the cafe.

The shop assistant was currently drawing the curtains of the shop, preventing any sunlight from entering. He smiled at Pein and asked, "good afternoon, sirs and ma'am. Please take a seat; I'll get you some coffee and muffins. The meeting will begin once all the competitors have arrived."

"Alright. Thank you very much, though we could do without the coffee and muffins - that wouldn't be very nice," replied Pein.

"No, it's okay. Besides, it's the boss who wants you all to try his new recipe." The shop assistant then walked off to the back of the counter and started loading a few muffins onto porcelain plates. Pein looked at him for a moment, then led his group to the back of the shop, where it was quite dark. He didn't want anyone to notice the Akatsuki too much before the matches commenced.

Meanwhile, Team Defence were on their way to the cafe. The whole defence force was seperated into two teams, with Sakura the leader of the first team and Shino the leader of the second team. Both teams came by cab, and none of them spoke a single word to each other throughout the whole trip. As soon as they were about to reach the entrance of the cafe, they put on a half mask, which covered only their eyes, and walked into the shop. The masks certainly earned them a lot of unnecessary stares, though.

Sasori was in Team 1, together with Sakura, Hinata, Shikamaru, Naruto, Tenten and Kiba. Team 2 consisted of Shino, Chouji, Ino, Sai, Lee and Neji. All of them moved silently to a space with many empty tables and sat down quietly. The other teams started whispering among one another as they tried to avoid looking at the masked-people.

"Say, who are those people?"

"Who knows. I've never seen them before."

"They must be a pretty big group, to have entered two teams at once."

"And they're pretty secretive about their identity, too! Look at those white masks."

"Do you think they'll be strong?"

"I don't know. Perhaps."

Deidara looked at the masked people. Who were they? They certainly looked like they did not want anyone to know about their identity.

"Man, what's with them? They look like they are going to attend a halloween dance party!" Hidan scoffed as he looked at the masked figures.

"Shh, not so loud, Hidan," whispered Konan, "we don't want to attract too much attention to ourselves."

At this point, all the teams had arrived at the small cafe, and as the shop assistant went to lock the front door of the shop, the cafe-owner cleared his throat, and everyone stopped whispering.

"Alright, everyone. It is a pleasure to have you all here. Now, we are going to begin the drawing of lots. As soon as we call your team, please send one representative to come and draw lots. Ah yes, and please take note of this: the organizing committee of the GMC has made a new rule. All of you will not be able to use code names for the tournament, like last year. This is to confirm your identity. Because, we want to make sure that the government hasn't sent in any teams for this competition..."

Sasori raised an eyebrow. Hinata's heart skipped a beat as she tried to look relaxed. The shop-owner meant them, and their teammates. If they were found out, it wouldn't be very good. They'd have to immediately try to capture everyone, and that would put them at a disadvantage, since they didn't have any info on the other teams' strength and powers yet.

"Ok, so lets begin now." With that, the old man tapped the air with his finger, as though tapping a touchpad. A small virtual map appeared, and the shop assistant placed a small box filled with papers on top of the counter.

"First up...Kurokani." A young man wearing a brown hoodie came forward, and reached into the box and drew out a piece of paper. The shop-owner unfolded it, and then announced it to the audience.

"Kurokani versus C-play!" Within a second, the virtual screen reacted to the old man's words. The two teams' names appeared on the screen, and were connected by a line.

And so it went on and on. Raikyu versus SKY, Hebi versus Hana, Oto-nin versus Secret, Opal versus Electric, and Aoi versus Futari. Finally, the moment which the Akatsuki had been waiting for came.

"Akatsuki!" the old man announced. Pein looked at Deidara, who was the nearest to the old man, and nodded. Deidara understood immediately, and stood up. He walked up to the box, and confidently reached for a piece of paper.

Sasori's eyes widened as he saw the teenager standing beside the shop-owner, drawing out a piece of white paper. That boy was very familiar. Long, golden hair, shiny blue eyes, long fringe covering one side of his face - Yes, there was no mistake. It was the guy at the supermarket! Who knew that he'd be competing at the GMC too?

"Akatsuki versus Tensai!" The names of the two teams appeared on the virtual screen, and were instantly connected by a line.

_'So, he's in Team Akatsuki,'_ thought the redhead, watching the golden-haired teenager return to his seat. He got an even bigger shock when he saw Tobi sitting at the table, with his swirly orange mask.

_'It's that swirly-masked guy,' _he thought, staring in disbelief. So, the guy who dropped the locket must be someone in his team. He remembered distinctly that the person had long golden hair and nice blue eyes - wait, there was only one person.

There was only one possible person. And that was -

_'It's that guy I met at the supermarket?!'_

Tobi noticed the redhead staring at him, and leaned over to Deidara. "Sempai, that red-haired guy keeps staring at me. Does he dislike me, or does he think I'm handsome? But I don't even know him..."

Deidara pinched Tobi's thigh as Tobi bit his lip hard to prevent himself from screaming out loud. "Sempai!" he whispered quickly.

Deidara smirked. "Dumbass, please take a look at yourself in the mirror. Your orange swirly-mask is so hideous! Don't get so egoistic, please. Especially during an important meeting."

Tobi winced, and bit into a chocolate-chip muffin, sulking a little.


	3. Worries

_**Is this what you call a writers block!? / Sigh.**_

**Chapter 3 **

"You've been looking pretty dazed ever since the day we went to draw lots," remarked Ino as she tied her long golden hair into a neat ponytail, "are you sure you'll be alright for the matches?"

Sasori sighed. "For the last time, Ino, I am alright. It's just fatigue, I guess. Anyway, are we here to find books to read, or are we here to watch you doll up?" He watched listlessly as the vain, long-haired girl put on some shiny lip gloss on her cherry lips.

"Aw, shut up, Sasori! You don't understand us women; we doll up to please you male homosapiens," she protested, replacing the cap of the lip gloss and slipping the tube into her pocket.

"Whatever, Ino." Sasori shrugged and stuffed his hands into his pockets. He, Ino, Sakura and Shikamaru were currently walking around in a bookstore, browsing through the thousands and thousands of books which were stacked neatly in piles. There were many people in the bookstore, buying books and reading magazines at the magazines section. Of course the bookstore would be filled; it was Saturday after all.

Ino scowled. "Whatever to you, Sasori. I'll be going to the magazines section with Sakura. Shikamaru'll be resting at the cybercafe. That idiot doesn't appreciate reading books..."

Shikamaru threw Ino a dirty look. "Magazines aren't considered _books, _my friend."

"Go away, Shikamaru, you aren't welcome here," said Ino irritatedly, folding her arms.

"Anything. Besides, I wanted to leave quickly...from you two women." With that, he turned around and headed towards the bookstore's cybercafe. Ino growled at his back and grabbed Sakura's hand.

"Lets go, Sakura," she said, pulling the pink-haired girl away from Sasori, who watched the two girls disappear into the crowd. Then, he turned around and walked away, deciding to dismiss whatever that just happened.

_'One more week to the first matches,'_ thought the redhead as he stolled listlessly towards the novels section. It wasn't very crowded, though. It wasn't very noisy either, as compared to the other book sections. Sasori thanked his fairy godmother wherever she was right now, and approached a shelf full of romance novels. He liked reading them in his spare time, and often got teased by his teammates. ("Sasori reading romance novels? The world must have gone nuts!" Ino laughed.) He especially loved reading romance novels by a certain author who went by the name _"Hanari". _Her stories were realistic, yet slightly mushy. Just enough flavour for him. Ever since he was in high school, Sasori had fallen for her books. He had read every single novel of hers, and had enjoyed all of them thoroughly.

Scanning the shelves for any new arrivals, Sasori felt a rush of excitement within him as he spotted a new novel with a title he had never seen before. He reached out an excited hand and slowly pulled the new book out.

_" 'Unexpected Meeting' ", _he whispered to himself as he looked at the glossy cover of the paperback novel. Well, the title did seem interesting enough for him, at least. He opened the book quietly and turned to the first page. He had just begun reading when he heard some shouting disrupt the quiet peace.

"Sempai! Why are we here? Novels are boring. We should go over to read comics - "

"Shut up, hn! Get away from me!"

"Sempai! Lets go read comics!"

"You can go by yourself if you want to! And don't call me Sempai, its highly disturbing. I'm not much younger than you, so please call me by my name."

"Deidara..._sempai." _

"UGH!"

Sasori's eyebrows twitched when he heard the word "Deidara". That Akatsuki representative - was he here? He watched as two teenagers in school uniform stumbled next to him, both puffing and panting. The golden-haired teenager made a mad dash for the shelf which contained new arrivals of the novels written by various authors. He scanned them quickly, and heaved a sigh of relief as he pulled out the latest novel written by _'Hanari'_.

"Thank goodness," he thought aloud, hugging the book happily as his partner whined continuously. "Argh, SHUT UP, Tobi! Go to the comics section, ok? I'll meet up with you later."

Tobi made a horrible fake sniffling sound, nodded and turned around, walking slowly towards the comics corner.

Sasori looked at the boy, pretty amused. "You...like Hanari's novels, too?"

Deidara looked at Sasori, obviously surprised. Then he spotted the novel in Sasori's hands, and smiled. Another avid fan of Hanari-sensei!

"Yeah, I love her books! I come here everytime there is a new arrival...of her novels of course. They rock, hn!" he smiled

'He likes Hanari's novels too?' thought Sasori. "You're right. She is a great writer for romance stories. Did you read her last novel?"

Deidara's eyes sparkled. "You mean 'Apple tree folks'? Of course I read it! It was so good - "

At that moment, a few readers glared at Deidara, making some "shhh" sounds at him. They were irritated by his loud voice, and wanted to read in peace. Deidara gulped as a drop of sweat rolled down his cheek.

Sasori smiled. This boy seemed lovable enough. "Anyway, what is your name?"

"Deidara, hn." The boy grinned. "Second year in Kaibara High. I play hockey, baseball, soccer, and read novels!"

"I didn't ask you for so much, you know," said Sasori, "and my name's Sasori."

"Sasori, hn?" Deidara said thoughtfully, "So, which high school are you from?"

The redhead groaned. Touchy question. "I am not a high-schooler. Do I look like one to you?"

"Actually, no. You look more like a middle schooler, with that red frizzy hair..."

Sasori was feeling a little pissed, but somehow couldn't bring himself to shout at the boy in front of him. He forced a smile, and said, "I am a no middle-schooler. I am older than you, brat."

Deidara's jaw dropped. "Older?! How can that be?"

"I am a university student, _excuse me_ if I shocked you."

"Whatever, hn. You still look like a middle-schooler."

"Whatever. I'm from Honjima Government University. I study literature and other things there."

Deidara's eyes suddenly widened. "You come from a government university? The governement funds your school?"

"Yes, what's wrong with that?"

"The government is terrible. It sucks to the core! Especially their defence and attacking forces, and the secret ANBU agents. Everything they say - the words they speak are all lies. They kill ruthlessly. They don't care who you are, and they just kill you, even when you didn't do anything wrong," replied Deidara, looking as if he had been wronged for something.

Sasori stared. This boy hated the government? Tsunade-sama and her staff? If he was in an alley, he would have injured the boy already.

"But why do you dislike the government so much? They aren't like that, you know. They are good people. They don't kill without reason."

"The previous ruler was fine. But the current ruler is evil. She's unreasonable. When I was three the ANBU agents barged into my house and killed my parents. My parents were innocent, het they died a wrongful death, without knowing why they were being killed. Later on, I was heard that they had killed the wrong people, and were extremely sorry."

"But can I forgive them? They think that just by saying sorry, they can get away with everything. Did they even visit my parents' graves? No. They wrecked my family. I can never forgive them for that."

Sasori was silent. He didn't know what to say. Ever since he was young, he had been trained by the Government forces to do whatever Tsunade wanted him to do. He was told that Tsunade was the best, and would do good things for him. Tsunade always had told the people that she would make them happy. But he didn't know whether that was true. After all, his job was to follow orders, and not anything else.

"...but I can see that you aren't a bad person. Anyway, going to that school; its just for education's sake, right?" Deidara said quietly, noticing how awkward the situation had become.

The redhead looked up at Deidara, and nodded silently. Really, he didn't know how to react. He couldn't possibly tell his new acquaintance that he was part of the Government defence force - no, he'd be bashed up.

"Anyway, Sasori, it was really nice meeting you. I didn't think anyone would read Hanari-sensei's novels!" Deidara said quickly, trying to change the subject.

"Well, I do," answered Sasori, feeling less awkward now, "and they are good. It was nice meeting you too."

Deidara tapped the book lightly with his fingers, smiling. "Well then, I'll get going now. I have to pacify that stupid Tobi..."

_'Tobi?' _That name was familiar enough.

"Yeah, that's my friend, and he's a horrible baby. He forgets things easily, and is a total klutz. Haha, I bet you'd go nuts if you saw him everyday." Deidara laughed, and waved goodbye to his new-found acquaintance. Sasori watched as the boy ran off to another corner of the bookstore, with his precious novel tucked under his arm. His hand unconsciously reached into his pocket as he felt the small locket which belonged to Deidara. He couldn't give the little accessory piece back to Deidara yet, it was too risky. Also, the music was lovely. Sasori had searched many stores for a locket or a musical box with the same music piece as the one he had found, but no such piece existed.

_"I wonder when I'll be able to return this to him?"_ he thought aloud, staring at the novel in his hand. He'd have to take care of this for quite a long time.

_...When can we meet as friends again?_

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Pein peered into Deidara's bedroom, only to find the latter lying on his bed, staring at the ceiling blankly. Sighing, the Akatsuki leader went out into the living room and sat down on the couch heavily. Deidara hadn't been doing his homework regularly, and the school had sent a warning letter to Pein (his supposed guardian). Also, the boy was looking more and more lethargic each day.

"What's wrong with Deidara? He really can't cope with the task of getting groceries, I think," said the spiky-haired man.

"Could it be that his locket is still not found?" Konan asked, "after all, that locket means almost the whole world to him."

Hidan sighed. "Stupid idiot, he should know how to cope with problems. He should learn to adapt to changes..."

Kakuzu nudged the foul-mouthed man, who yelped in response. "The locket was given to Deidara by his parents. He needs it to survive, basically."

"Hah, we all know that. But shouldn't he concentrate on his work first? He should get over everything."

"Getting over this means that you're telling him to get over his parent's death, Hidan." Zetsu answered.

"Oh, so you're here, aloe vera?" Hidan scoffed. "I thought you were out at the greenhouse downtown."

Zetsu glared at Hidan. "Just because I'm not taking part in this year's GMC doesn't mean you can taunt me like that, moron."

"Whatever it is," interrupted Pein, "we have to find that locket first. Or Deidara will perform poorly in every aspect in his life. Or another way - we try convincing him, but I don't think that will really help."

"Well...if that's what you say, Pein. I'll go find it now, since I have time to spare." With that Konan dissolved into air and disappeared.

"We'll go look for it too," Kakuzu said, pulling Hidan's arm forcefully and dragging the unhappy man out of the apartment.

Zetsu watched the duo shut the wooden door of the apartment, then stood up. "I'll go find Tobi, then. He's in the community library, studying...he's not taking part in the GMC, right?"

Pein nodded, and sighed. "Well, he's a reserve. If Deidara cannot cope, then I'll let Tobi fight."

"...Hopefully, Deidara will be alright by then." Having said that, Zetsu left the apartment, leaving Pein alone in the living room, worrying and pondering.

With only one week left until the first matches, time was precious.


	4. Suspicions

**Chapter 4 **

_Two days to the big day._

A string of exploding sounds erupted from Deidara's room as he struggled to keep the sound out of his ears. No, he didn't want to go to school. Or do anything. He hadn't finished his work yet - he'd be killed by his teacher and harassed by Tobi. Wait, Tobi harassed him everyday, so that didn't count.

"Oi, sleepyhead, wake up! It's already 7.30am and your cellphone alarm tone is as annoying as hell." Hidan threw a pillow at Deidara's face as he walked into the room.

"Mmmmpfh..." Deidara rolled over and buried his face in his pillow. Hidan sighed, and looked at the books strewn all over the floor and scattered across the table. _Really_ messy.

"Well, I'll turn it off for you, cos' its really irritating everyone in the house," said Hidan, reaching for Deidara's cellphone and switching off the alarm. The 'explosions' stopped, and Deidara groaned.

"What day is it today?" he asked the older man, hoping for a good response. Sunday perhaps?

Hidan groaned. "My dear friend, you are gonna be _LATE_ for school if you don't hurry up. I presume you have a Math test today?" He glanced over at thick textbook with a small tag on it, labelled **'Study for Math Test or Die'. **

"Nnn...maths test...crap!" Deidara immediately jumped out of bed and began to undress. He quickly slipped on his school uniform, had a quick brushing-teeth and washing-face session, and grabbed his school bag. Sweeping all the books on his study table into the bag, he sped out of the room as Hidan tossed him his cellphone.

"Thanks, Hidan!" Deidara called as caught the little device, grabbed a piece of toast from the dining table, and rushed out of the apartment. Konan sighed.

"He's like that every single day, huh," she said as she watched the boy disappear down the corridor.

"I guess you can't really change him," replied Kakuzu, reading the morning paper, "old habits die hard."

"What time does his maths test start?" asked Konan, looking at Zetsu, who had come over to join the group for breakfast.

"Um, I heard from Tobi that the test would start at 8am?" Zetsu sipped his coffee and sighed. "I guess that boy will not be able to make it in time. Tobi left the house at 6am, you know."

"...and there's gonna be no taxi in sight at this hour. The last morning bus just left," said Pein.

"Wonder how he'll cope with that and _this_," said Hidan, coming out of Deidara's room, "that idiot forgot to wear his contact lenses. Hopefully he doesn't collide into things."

"I guess he didn't notice..." Konan let out an exasperated sigh, "by the way, when is Itachi and Kisame coming back?"

"They'll be back in the late afternoon," replied Kakuzu, "its a really good thing that they decided transfer to a government school. Cos' they don't need to pay the full cost of their school fees. Besides, Honjima is quite a prestigious university."

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Meanwhile, Deidara had reached the taxi stand after realizing that the last morning bus had went. He spent a few minutes catching his breath, and then stretched out a hand to flag a taxi. Only then did he realize that he had forgotten all about his contact lens.

"Damn, the number plates of the vehicles on the road...they are so unclear...so blur. My contact lens - I forgot to put them on...my spectacles are in school. Crap crap crap!" He felt like banging his head repeatedly on the metal pole next to him as he tried desperately to flag a taxi.

Too bad for Deidara, there was no taxi, just as Pein had said. All the taxis were currently downtown. Now this spelt trouble. He'd have to run to school.

Just as the boy was starting to give up on flagging a taxi, he heard someone call his name. "Deidara? What are you doing here? Don't you have school?"

Deidara spun around and found a certain redhead sitting on a bicycle, looking questioningly at him. His face hung in despair as he mumbled, "I missed the last bus. And there's no taxi in sight. If run to school, I'll have no energy to complete my maths test..."

Sasori raised an eyebrow. "You have...a maths test?"

"Yeah. I can't miss it. I studied my ass off!" Deidara said sadly.

"...Say, I could give you a lift. It's better than running, isn't it?"

"But - don't you have class? And Honshima University is quite far from my school - how will you get there in time?"

"It's not Honshima, its Honjima. You didn't hear me out clearly, did you? Anyway, get on the bicycle now; or you'll really be late."

Deidara hesitated for awhile, then quickly hopped onto the back of the bike and settled down comfortably. It was better than running all the way to school. Sasori then started pedalling down the almost empty road, keeping check of the time now and then.

"...maybe I did hear the wrong thing the other day, hn. Honjima Government University...eh? You go to Kisame and Itachi's school!" Deidara chirped happily as he gazed at the azure blue sky above him.

_How slow he is._

"Kisame? Itachi?" Sasori repeated, trying to remember anyone with such names. _'Ah, the two newcomers?'_

"You know them?" he asked Deidara, who nodded in response.

"Yep. They're my house-mates, hn. Kisame's really nice, but Itachi's really strict and quiet. Stupid Uchiha, what a prick!"

_'Uchiha...Kisame...they must be his teammates too,' _thought Sasori as he pedalled on.

"Anyway, I didn't expect to see you again, hn," Deidara said, interrupting Sasori's train of thought.

"Eh?...oh, me too." Sasori smiled. Somehow, he felt very comfortable with this boy. Although the boy was his enemy, but Sasori couldn't bring himself to hurt him.

_Too lovable._

"Sigh, I wonder what is 593+13?" Deidara yawned and wondered aloud as he read a sum off his texbook. Sasori lips curled into a small grin. This boy probably had gotten a borderline pass for his high school entrance exams.

_Too stupid._

"Ah, nevermind. I think I'll just sleep for awhile." Deidara stretched a little and lay on Sasori's back.

_Too naive._

Sasori was so lost in thought that he didn't notice Deidara sleeping on his back. He was busy smiling to himself, as he just blindly followed the road signs and pedalled to Deidara's school. When he reached Kaibara High, he stopped the bicycle and turned to Deidara.

"Deidara, we've arrived at yo - " Sasori realized that something heavy was leaning on his back. He stiffly turned around, and looked at the sleeping teenager. He was sound asleep, and was mumbling some things like "x+p square root five...hn."

Sasori couldn't help gazing at the teenager. He looked so peaceful, so tender. Amazing, how he didn't manage to fall of the bicycle. He was about to brush Deidara's fringe off his face when he the boy was jerked away by the sudden school bell which meant that school had started. Immediately, Sasori withdrew his hand.

"Argh, maths test!" Deidara exclaimed, suddenly opening his eyes and realizing where he was. He quickly jumped off the bicycle and grabbed his school bag.

"Thanks, Sasori! Hope to see you again soon, hn!" he said as he scuttled across the school campus, waving to the redhead.

Sasori couldn't help laughing a little as he saw the boy getting scolded by the discipline master.

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Minutes later Sasori had parked his bicycle outside the school gates and had reached his classroom. As he put down his books, Sakura walked up to him. As usual.

"Hey, you wanna go buy some gloves later? I think yours must have worn out by now...the whole gang's going to the mall to get a pair each...wanna come?"

"No thanks, I need to finish up a report." Sasori replied.

"You're such a spoilsport, Sasori," remarked Ino, coming up to the redhead.

"Am not, Ino, its just that work comes first," came the reply.

"Ch, learn how to treat a woman properly, and not turn her down, Sasori!" Ino tossed her head indignantly.

Just then, a boy with red eyes and long dark hair appeared before Sasori's desk, as well as a shark-like teenager. Sasori recognised them immediately.

_'Itachi and Kisame...huh.'_

Itachi stretched out his hand and handed Sasori a physics book. His physics book. Sasori stared.

"You dropped this in the hallway, Akasuna-san," said Itachi his cold voice.

"...Thank you." Sasori eyed the taller teenager, examining him. He, a fighter?

"Try to be less careless next time, or it'd be thrown away," said Itachi.

"Why, Itachi-san, don't be so unfriendly towards him." Kisame smiled, flashing his sharp, shark-like teeth.

"...was I that unfriendly?" Itachi asked his partner, earning a nod.

"OK...I got it." With that, the Uchiha turned around and walked away. Before he left, he looked at Sasori for one last time. Their eyes met, and were fixed there for a moment. Then, Itachi finally walked away. "Lets go, Kisame."

"Geez, he's always like that. Akasuna-san, I'm sorry. Please don't mind his rudeness - that's how he is..." Kisame then quickly ran up to his friend and both of them left the classroom.

Sasori looked as if he had been hit by a rock. He looked a little frustrated. He remembered what Deidara had told him earlier.

_**"Kisame's really nice, but Itachi's really strict and quiet. Stupid Uchiha, what a prick!" **_

How true was that?

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"Itachi-san, are you sure about that?"

"Yes. I have a feeling that we have met somewhere before."

"But where?"

"Not sure. But we do have to take precautions against him. Besides, I could sense their energy-levels; the group we just met, they are not to be trifled with."

"You mean...?"

Itachi's ruby-red eyes glowed. "Their energy-levels are higher than the average persons. I suspect that they know how to use magic."

"As expected of you, Itachi-san, being able to notice that so quickly. It's a good thing your eyes can see the energy-level in a person."

"We have to watch out for that redhead. His energy-level is especially high."

"If you say so. Your judgement has never been wrong, Itachi-san. Do we tell Pein about this?"

"Not yet. I'd like to observe that group of people for awhile more."

"Alright."


	5. Night Hunters

**Chapter 5**

"I am pretty sure you have a reason for intruding, my friend."

Pein looked solemnly at a shadowed figure standing below him. He stood on the upper building, his arms folded. The figure laughed.

"This is called a surprise attack, Akatsuki-sama," he said, grinning.

"I don't think we have met before," replied Pein simply.

"Well, you wouldn't have. Since you are going to die soon, I might as well reveal my identity. I am a Night Hunter."

Pein raised an eyebrow. "Night Hunters - the secret hunters who are hired to kill people and steal information?"

"Very nice, Akatsuki-sama. Now, now - let me ask you one more time. Where is that boy prodigy?"

"That would be you, I suppose?" Pein answered.

The figure smirked. "Nah, I'm not so great. You know who I am talking about, Akatsuki-sama. The boy which you took in thirteen years ago..."

Pein glared at the man, mysterious rings appearing in his eyes. He knew exactly who the stranger was talking about. There was no doubt about it; this man had to die at all costs.

"What's up, Akatsuki-sama? Those rings in your eyes - are you going to kill me? Well, will you be able to, I wonder...your group has been pretty stale since three years ago, and we have not collected any new information..."

"There is no need to do that, friend. We do not want you guys acting sneaky."

"C'mon, show me your true power, Pein-sama. Or should I call you...Nagato?"

At this Pein stiffened a little. "Don't use my name so casually, friend."

"Then tell me about that prodigy you've been keeping," came the reply, "do you intend to use him as your weapon? Or did you take him in because you sympathised with him? What exactly are your intentions?"

Pein hesitated for awhile as several clouds shrouded the earth in temporary darkness. The Night Hunter stood patiently at the lower building, waiting for an answer. The cold night wind blew hard on their clothes and hair, and both of them had their eyes fixed on the other party.

But little did the stranger know that Pein was a very decisive person. Every decision was crucial to him, and were often finalised within minutes after careful thinking. It had been a wrong move to provoke him.

A decision had been made. Precise and accurate.

As the clouds cleared, the dead body of the Night Hunter lay on the lower building, still and unmoving. Pein looked at it coldly for a moment, then looked up at the bright, yellow moon. It was especially big and round today, for some reason.

The dead body of the Night Hunter slowly dissolved into small bubbles and burst as they rose into the night sky. No one would know about the death of another pesky man. There were no traces of evidence left behind.

"...you can come out now, Konan."

A slim figure appeared beside Pein a few seconds later, holding a black lace umbrella. Her eyes were heavily lined with eyeliner, and she looked at the tiny bubbles flying around her.

"What did that man want?" she asked quietly.

"He wanted to test my skill. Obviously someone competitor group must have hired him. Also..." Pein's voice trailed off.

"Also?..." Konan questioned.

"The Night Hunter asked about that matter. I suppose the person who hired him knows about Deidara."

"You've kept the secret so well for so many years...who else would know about it? And who would care? Unless they want to keep him as their weapon..."

Pein sighed. "That's my main concern. I adopted him because I wanted him to be under safe hands. If he was left alone in that house, and if someone else had adopted him, he would be used as a puppet and a lot of things would happen."

"But have you found out what his power is yet?"

"Itachi says that he has a strange kind of..power system in him. He can control the amount of power he uses every time. 50 percent of my power is equivalent to 5 percent of his power. It's frightening."

"Itachi's analysis - we should trust that," said Konan, "but does Deidara know about his power system?"

"That I do not know. But in any case, please ask Zetsu to keep an eye on him. I don't want him to be killed. And please go check on Deidara now. If they sent Night Hunters to find me, they must have sent Night Hunters to harm him."

"Okay. Anyway, please come back soon. Tobi made sweet potato soup for dessert."

"...Right. I don't want any."

"Zetsu did most of the cooking. Tobi simply stirred the soup."

"..._Right."_

* * *

"Good work, everyone!"

Deidara smiled and grabbed his school bag from his locker. His work shift had just ended, and he was getting ready to go home. The boy worked at a BBQ food shop, where hot plates and fresh foods were served. It was already ten in the night, and most of the student workers were going home. As he went out into the restaurant, he caught sight of a familiar face sitting at table 10...

"Hn, Sasori-san?!"

"Eh? Deidara..." The redhead looked up from his food. He was sitting with pink haired lady, and both of them were busy eating.

"It's really you, hn!" Deidara said, wide-eyed. Sakura looked at Sasori in surprise.

"Do you know him?" she asked.

Sasori nodded and put down his chopsticks. "His name is Deidara. Deidara, this is Sakura. She's my classmate."

Deidara smiled in reponse, having no idea who the pink haired lady really was. But Sakura recognized him immediately.

_'...isn't he that representative?'_ she thought as she watched Sasori talk with the boy. The redhead seemed cheerful and sounded like he could chat all day. Sakura couldn't help feel a little bit jealous. Sasori never talked to her in that way...

But, the point was, what was Sasori doing with an enemy? And why was he being so nice?

"Anyway, you work here?" Sasori finally asked.

"Yeah...I need to earn my own money, you know. I don't wanna be dependent on anyone, hn."

"Oh. Are you going home now?"

"Obvious, pretty much?" Deidara grinned, holding up his school bag.

"Heh. OK then. I'll see you around. Be careful, the streets at night aren't too safe."

"Yeah yeah. Alright. Then, I'll be going now. See you!" With that, Deidara left the restaurant, giving Sakura a chance to ask a few questions. As she stirred her rice with her spoon quietly, she managed a sentence.

"You two seem...friendly."

Sasori was surprised. Then he smiled. "Merely acquaintances..."

"Acquaintances?"

"Yes. We met...at some unexpected place."

"...What do you mean by that."

Sasori didn't seem to hear that. He simply continued eating his food.

"And I do hope you know he's the enemy. We're supposed to capture him, and not make friends with him. If he's found guilty, he'll be killed!" Sakura whispered.

The redhead paused. He refused to say anything. He knew very well about the consequences that would follow, but still...

"You do not care? Sasori, you've never went against the Government forces before. I believe that you won't let us down, ever."

"Sakura, he's just an acquaintance," said Sasori, "there's no need to get so worked up -"

"Sasori, I do not know what you are doing. But he can never be friends with you. Because that'll endanger you both..."

"Like I said, he's just an acquaintance." There was silence as Sasori stood up abruptly.

"I'll settle the bill," he said darkly, as he left for the counter, leaving Sakura a little stunned.

_'What exactly is he thinking...Sometimes its just so hard to understand him,' _she thought as she watched the redhead walk away.

* * *

Meanwhile, Deidara had run into a little problem in an alley.

"I see, so you're that prodigy that Akatsuki-sama took in thirteen-years ago?" A girl with long flowing hair smirked. Her ears were heavy with metal ear studs, and her there were lots of sterling silver necklaces hanging from her neck. She was dressed in black and wore a transparent rain poncho, for some reason. Deidara found it weird, but didn't want to care so much.

"What do you want?"

"I want to see how far I can stretch you," came the reply, "and I need to help you realise your full potential, or my employer willl never let me off..."

Deidara eyes widened. "Someone sent you?..."

The girl smiled. "Rather, someone _hired_ me. Don't you know about your special power system?"

_'Power system?'_ Deidara stared blankly at the enemy.

"I see, you don't know about it, from the looks of it," said the girl.

"Well, I don't care about it. I just wanted to take a shortcut to get home, but you suddenly appeared in front of me and started telling me loads of rubbish. So can you please get out of my way?" Deidara asked.

The girl sighed. "Seems like you don't know the importance of your power system. If you do realise your full potential, my employer would be very happy."

"What the hell? What power system?" Deidara was confused.

"It shouldn't hurt to tell you, I guess. Well, you have a power system which is special. I bet you don't even know that. You can control the amount of power you release. Also, you are able to hide your true amount of power from the enemy. Your power grows every second. But your unique ability is not that of a person with an advanced bloodline..."

"I don't understand," said Deidara.

"Well, just understand this point: You have lots of potential hidden within you. Now lets cut the crap; I need to fight you now." With that, a silver line appeared in each of her eyes, each line drawn across the shiny pupils.

_**'Advanced bloodline - Light Stream.' **_A stream of light shot out from her eyes quickly, aiming for Deidara. The latter dodged the attack before it hit him, and the light hit a garbage can instead, sending it flying in the air.

"Damn, I have to rush home to complete my homework!" Deidara yelled as he avoided another attack.

The girl smiled wryly. "That I do not care. For now, please concentrate on unlocking your potential, Deidara-kun."

"You know my name?!"

"Of course."

Deidara clenched his fist as he flung his school bag down onto the floor. He grabbed a glass bottle from the trash can behind him and it turned into -

"Whew, Deidara-kun, you need more power than that," scoffed the girl as she looked at the rifle that Deidara was carrying, in place of the glass bottle.

"Shut up, I will deal with you quickly and go back to complete my schoolwork!" He merged another plastic bottle with the rifle, and the rifle turned into a rainbow machine gun.

"Bazooka?" The girl asked, "well, that's decent enough...at least for now." She bounced off the brick walls of the alley as a rainbow beam narrowly missed her.

"_But,_ that's not enough. If you want to unlock your full potential you need to go further than what you have been doing currently. Let me tell you this; explore your powers. Do not always stick to the norm - always try to explore new ways and techniques. Only then will your potential unlock."

"SHUT UP! Who sent you anyway?" Deidara shouted.

"I do not have to tell you that," replied the girl as another line appeared in each of her eyes, forming an equal sign. Now, two silver lines were drawn across her pupils.

"This was the fruit of my labour; I went across the boundaries and finally achieved something _new," _she said, wielding a small dagger.

Deidara stared as his jaw nearly dropped. A modified advanced bloodline technique?

"Yes, its modified," said the girl, "now, give it your best, or risk dying, Deidara-kun."

Two beams of laser power shot out from the girl's eyes, and aimed straight for Deidara's face. Deidara's machine gun changed into a virtual shield to block the attack, but something else deflected the attack for him.

Or rather,_ someone _else.

"K-konan-san?"

The dark figure of Konan hovered above the ground. Many paper butterflies had deflected the attack, and the laser beams had burned up the paper. Still, Konan did not move. Instead, more paper flew out of the recycling bins below her and added on to her already wide-spread paper wings.

"Hazuno Yuma," she said in an eery tone, "Vice-captain of Night Hunters X2 Division?"

"Why of course, Konan-sama," said the enemy, "why have you come to visit me?"

"You came to visit Deidara...how could you not inform me?" With that, a few paper shards appeared out of nowhere and launched themselves off, hitting Hazuno.

"...Prepare to die," said Konan simply, as the shards fixed themselves onto Hazuno's clothes and hair. The bewildered girl forced a smile.

"You think you can kill me with _paper?" _she asked skeptically.

**"Of course."** The paper shards slowly turned into diamond dust, along with Hazuno, who simply stared at her feet. They were disappearing too.

"You bitch, I'll remember you for this!" she screamed as she finally disappeared into nothingness.

"Bitch, I don't want you remembering me," muttered Konan as she made a swift landing on the ground. She stretched out a hand.

"Well, get up now. Show's over," she said, pulling Deidara up from the floor.

"...Konan-san. Why did you come?"

"Pein asked me to check on you. Anyway, what did she tell you?" asked Konan, referring to Hazuno.

"...nothing. About my power system, or something like that, I guess."

Konan's eyes widened a little. "Did she tell you anything else?"

Deidara shook his head. "No. Unless you mean unlocking of potential, or whatever crap...but what's that anyway?"

Konan fell silent. Pein had to know about this. In the meanwhile...

"You don't have to know that for now."

"But why? It's about me, I can't just ignore it - "

"Tobi made sweet potato soup for dessert."

Deidara gaped at her, temporarily forgetting about what he wanted to say. "Hah?!"

"...Zetsu did most of the cooking. Tobi simply stirred the soup."

"Oh. OK then."

As both of them left the alley, a silent figure came out into the soft moonlight, watching their backs. It was Sasori, and he was in deep thought.

_'Power system?...who exactly hired the Night Hunter? That person must know a lot about this. I'd better find out who hired Hazuno Yuma...'_

But of course, the Night Hunters were extremely secretive and were not to be trifled with. Finding out things was going to be difficult.


	6. Invitations

**Chapter 6 **

Sasori scribbled furiously in his paperback notebook, recording down important information he had found on a website. It concerned the Night Hunters and Power Systems. He had done everything he could to retrieve infomation about these two topics, and had even hacked into various anonymous databases to check if the information he had gathered was true. Finally shutting down his PC after a whole day's work, he tiredly got himself a glass of milk and lay down on his bed. What a day it had been.

Reaching for the small locket on his bedside table, he opened it with a small 'flick'. The soft melody of the little locket filled his small room as he lay back and relaxed for a moment. 6 hours of endless researching - finally, it was over.

_'I wonder when will the time come...for me to return this to him.' _

The redhead found himself feeling worried. From what he had seen on the web, the Night Hunters were a group of people who worked as information-stealers and could be hired as secret-killers. They were very professional and rarely failed any mission they were asked to carry out. That woman who shielded Hazuno Yuma's attack for Deidara must be a professional fighter, to be able to block that attack so easily.

But the point was...what if Deidara was being targeted? After all, he had an unusual power system within him. And he did not know what it was.

_'The Power System - every person has a Power System within them. Some can release more energy than the others. But there is a rumour circulating around; a special kind of Power System, referred to as the Recharge Power System, which can only be found in certain people. This kind of system is extremely rare; the flow of the power is consistent and can be expanded and increased according to the owner's will..it does not have a fixed volume. It can even expand to infinite size, and when that happens, things will get out of hand...' _

Still, Sasori did not fully understand. He was a visual type of person, and needed to see things clearly for himself before understanding what was going on. As he sat there, on his cozy bed, still listening to the sweet melody of the locket, he pondered over the many things that had happened lately. Ever since the day he had seen Deidara with the Night Hunter, he had been determined to find out more about the boy, and discover as many secrets as he could.

Though he did not know why. But anyway, it was considered part of his job.

As he drank a bit of milk from the glass, his cellphone rang. He flipped the ringing device open and looked at the screen. Oh, a message from Shikamaru.

_**Hey, the first match starts tonight. Location at City Park, area D. Be there at 9pm sharp. The match will start at midnight, but it's better to be early. Get some snacks if you want. Shika.**_

Sasori sighed. Finally, the first match was out. He took off his spectacles and went to put on his contact lenses. And then, he drank up the whole glass of milk, grabbed his cloak and went out of the door.

The moon was as round as a large saucer.

* * *

"Deidara-sempai. I made this for you!" Tobi said gleefully as he brought out a small bag neatly wrapped in elaborate paper. There were silver ribbons all curled up, attached to the bag. Deidara looked at it silently.

"...what's that now."

"Yes! It is my special cookies, blueberry and wheatgrass and walnuts! I spent a whole day making them..." Tobi said hopefully.

Deidara rolled his eyes. "_Please,_ Tobi. You aren't much older than me. Don't call me sempai. Besides, you are older than me."

"I'll stop calling you that if you accept my cookies."

"Another failure, I'll choke you." Deidara took the small present from Tobi, whose eyes sparkled_. _

_Yes, lets wait until Deidara sees the inside of the bag...the card..._

Tobi had always admired Deidara. Though Deidara always seemed cold and frustrated towards him, but Tobi knew that he was actually a very caring person. Though both of them were of the same age, but they were from different classes. Tobi always held that little tiny bit of hope that Deidara would accept his feelings, and always made a nice bento for him everyday. Though the cooking was always a mess. Though Deidara never knew Tobi liked him.

"Hmm? What's this..." said Deidara as he felt something thin and papery inside the bag. He pulled out a slim card, and read it. His frowned slightly.

"What the hell, Tobi? Why is _Zetsu's_ _business card _here in this bag!?"

Tobi's eyes widened as he grabbed the card quickly and took a clearer look at it. Deidara was right - the card had a picture of a saucepan, and some words printed in large, black letters.

_**Zetsu's Delicious Cooking - Taste it to believe it! **_

"H-how could this happen?!" Tobi exclaimed bitterly as he tightly gripped the card.

"Why couldn't it happen?" Deidara asked, "with your careless nature, _anything_ could happen, hn."

"No - no - it was supposed to be another card -" Tobi stuttered.

"... what card, hn? Your report card?" Deidara asked sarcastically. He put the bag of cookies on the floor.

_'I can't possibly tell him that I wrote a love card for him...he'll thrash me!' _Tobi thought sadly as he sat down next to Deidara. Both of them were at the City Park, area D, eating an ice cream cone each. They were sitting on the rooftop of a deserted building facing the duck pond.

Area D of the City Park wasn't really a park - it was a piece of land which had lots of deserted office buildings and shacks on it. It was part of the City Park, only because the back gate of the park was situated there. And since not many people passed that dark, eery place, it was a good location for the first match.

Deidara bit into the ice cream cone and gazed at the moon for a moment. "Say, Tobi, how did you end up with Zetsu anyway? I mean, don't you have parents, hn?"

Tobi shook his head. "Nah. Zetsu took me in. And I became his disciple. Anyway, Deidara-sempa - "

"Don't address me as your sempai, please."

"Alright, Deidara," Tobi blushed a little, "do you want to come with me to the Lantern Festival tomorrow? It'll be fun, I promise."

Deidara looked at the older boy. "Hn, why should I go with you? I've got tons of studying to do at home - "

"There's loads of malt candy," said Tobi gleefully.

At this, Deidara stopped. He was a sucker for malt candy - that sweet, sticky candy which you could twirl with chopsticks. Translucent, golden, honey-like candy. But he could not let Tobi see through his weak side. He fidgeted for awhile, pondering over the matter. Tobi smirked; he had already beaten Deidara hands-down. It was a good thing that Zetsu had given him some advice.

**"If you want to win Deidara's heart over, steal it with some malt candy. That should do the trick. He loves it a lot. If you get him malt candy, he'll love you."**

Well, it was Tobi's great fortune to have a restaurant cook give him advice. Or so he thought. He watched Deidara bite his lip in frustration, as if he was having some sort of mind battle. After a few minutes, Tobi finally got his answer.

"...I'll come, hn." Upon hearing this, the older boy nearly screamed with happiness. He simply smiled and lay back on the concrete floor of the building top, silently thanking Zetsu.

"It's 6pm, so get dressed and be ready by then!" he said.

"Yeah, yeah," said Deidara sourly, as he checked his watch. It was already 11.30pm.

"Alright, Tobi. Put on your mask; its time to go. Though I don't really understand why you put on that mask everytime we go for fights."

"Well, Zetsu-san said that if I wore a mask, no one would recgonize me. And I'd be a successful ninja!"

"Whatever," came the response. With that, both of them made their way to the deserted basketball court a few metres away from the park, where a few other people and the Akatsuki were waiting. All of them were sitting on either trees or the metal rooftops of buildings.

"Ah, you two are here," said Kisame as Deidara approached him.

"Yeah," said Deidara tiredly, sitting next to Itachi and looking down at the basketball court, "so, who's battling today?"

"...team Hebi and team Oto," answered Itachi in a flat tone.

"Eh, I thought there wasn't a team Hebi?" Tobi asked, looking confused.

"There wasn't," explained Kakuzu, "but Itachi's little brother suddenly drew out of team Oto and formed his own team. Weird, huh. Don't know what goes inside his crazy mind."

"..." Deidara turned to look at Itachi, who sat there, staring plainly at the basketball court. He didn't seem too bothered about it. Itachi's parents were highly successful business people. They had been killed in a plotted car accident while waiting for Itachi to come out of school. Another car had deliberately crashed into their car while they were waiting in their car outside the elementary school. The police suspected that it might be the Uchiha family's business enemies at work.

Sasuke had always blamed Itachi for their parents' deaths, claiming that if Itachi had gotten out of school a little earlier, everything wouldn't have happened. Itachi, unable to study with his brother's endless ranting and scolding and hate-looks, left the house and went to move in with the Akatsuki. Of course, he never went back, for Sasuke had gotten security guards to keep him out of the house.

"Oh, look. Here comes that dumb Orochimaru-sama and his faithful servant, Kabuto," said Hidan, pointing at two figures making their way into the basketball court. Kakuzu scoffed as he bit on a piece of biscuit.

Everyone knew Orochimaru. He was like a typical villain in any story - cunning, sly, wicked, cruel, powerful ... and as a bonus, had an extremely loyal sidekick called Kabuto. As he stepped onto the hard concrete of the court, Sasuke Uchiha entered from the other gate, with his team mates: Karin, Juugo and Suigetsu.

Orochimaru gave a sly smile. "So, Sasuke-kun, now that your wings have grown, you;'re flying away and leaving your teacher alone?"

"Cut the crap, Orochimaru. You were just planning to take over my body. I wouldn't let you do that," replied Sasuke.

"Hmm, but you agreed to let me take over your body if I trained you," said Orochimaru, "now, now, aren't you contradicting yourself?"

"Only a fool like you would believe my words," said Sasuke simply. He activated his Sharingan and glared at the enemy.

"Tsk tsk, Kabuto. How scary. How could a disciple manage to win his teacher?" Orochimaru smiled as he stepped out. A few snakes emerged from his long sleeves.

"Let's see how good you are, _Sasuke-kun." _

Sasuke grinned. "My pleasure, indeed."

Meanwhile, Hidan was playing with some Tarot Cards. He spread the cards out, then turned over one card and looked at it.

"Jashin-sama says that Team Hebi will win this round," he said to Tobi, who was watching him intently.

"Oooh, really!"

"Yeah, I'm not kidding. I could help you read some cards for your love life too," he whispered, referring to Deidara.

"E-eh? Nah, I don't need it - "

"Yes, you_ do_," said Hidan evilly, "and Jashin-sama will help you find out whether Deidara-chan loves you. You know you_ want _to know about this."

"...okay." Tobi picked out a card from the collection spread out on the floor, and handed it to Hidan, who read it for him.

"Hmm, everything will be fine if you persist, but you have an obstacle."

"Obstacle?" Tobi repeated.

"Yes, Jashin sama says that someone who is twenty-years old this year is your obstacle. Beware of that person," said Hidan, starting to keep his cards, "so, say, wanna join Jashin-sama -"

"Uh, no thanks," said Tobi quickly, scooting back to Deidara's side before the loudmouth could say anything else. He watched as Sasuke drew a fire arrow out from the air and aimed it at Orochimaru.

_"Twenty-years old...Itachi-san and Kisame-san? Maybe. But the salesgirl at the cosmetics shop downtown is also twenty-years old this year too. Ayase-chan at the breadshop is also twenty-years old this year. Hanamori-sensei's son is also twenty-years old this year...are they all my obstacles?!" _Tobi's mind was in a mess.

At this point, Sasuke had already beaten Orochimaru down with a fire gun. The latter's snake whips were no match for the 600 degrees celsius, burning hot flames. Hidan smirked as the judges announced team Hebi as the winner.

"Ha, see? Jashin-sama was right!" he said, looking very pleased.

Zetsu rolled his eyes. "Stuff a sock into your mouth, Hidan."

"What the hell? Shut up you moron, don't interrupt me when I'm talking about Jashin-sama - "

"We're leaving," interrupted Pein as he stood up quietly. He turned around and started walking away, followed by Konan, then Zetsu.

Hidan groaned, threw a dirty look at Zetsu's back and then left with Kakuzu, leaving Kisame and Itachi with Tobi and Deidara. Kisame patted Itachi's shoulder reassuringly.

"See, didn't your brother do well? Must've trained extra hard. C'mon, lets go back," he said, standing up and inhaling in the cold night air.

"..." Itachi remained silent. Taking one last look at his brother, who was now glaring daggers at him from below, he stood up and walked off with Kisame.

From a tree 7 metres away from the basketball court, Team Defence had been watching the fight secretly. Their masks were on, and they had taken down lots of notes and had gotten lots of information about Sasuke and Orochimaru. No one even noticed that they were there. After all, they were quite far away from the basketball court.

"Well, well, Tsunade-sama will be pleased with this report!" Ino said, tapping her little monitor-recorder happily.

"She sure will," said Hinata.

"Well, since everyone is here, why don't we all go for supper? Steamboat, my treat!" said Kiba, putting his pen into his pocket.

"Of course, I won't say no to supper and a treat!" Chouji said, grinning.

"Alright then, lets go!" Kiba then jumped off the tree, followed by the rest of the team, except Sasori and Sakura.

The pink-haired girl looked nervously at Sasori for a moment, then finally gathered enough courage to ask him something. She shut her notebook slowly and looked at the redhead, who was checking his cellphone for any missed calls and messages.

"Hey...Sasori," she started.

"Yeah?"

"I...just want to ask you...if you would like to go to the Lantern Festival tomorrow. It'll be fun, and besides, all of us are going."

"...its tomorrow?"

"Yeah..." Sakura clenched her fists tightly, fervently wishing that Sasori would say yes.

"Oh, yeah...I forgot about the Lantern Festival," Sasori muttered quietly, "...ok then. I don't have anything on tomorrow, anyway."

Sakura's lips curled into a wide, happy smile. Her inner self screamed in delight as she bit her lip to stop herself from overreacting. "Alright then. The meeting place is the South Station. We'll be taking the train to the festival grounds. Meet you there at 5pm!" She then jumped off the tree and started walking away.

_'Yes...it's going to be a romantic night of fireworks, lanterns, dango and games. Sakura Haruno, you've just scored yourself a goal!' _


	7. Festival Fights Part 1

**I realized that I have made mistakes for the past few chapters. Gosh :O Editing time...**

**Chapter 7 **

Finally, the school bell rang long and loud. Another busy school day had ended, and the students started packing up their books and stationary immediately. As Deidara stuffed his pencilcase into his school bag, his tablemate, Haku, tapped his shoulder.

"Hey, are you going to the Lantern Festival tonight? I heard there's gonna be lots of fireworks and bubbles and takoyaki and **malt candy." **He grinned as he emphasized the last two words of his sentence.

Deidara's face turned red. Damn, his weakness for malt candy - he had bought some malt candy during last year's school fair, and had made a complete fool of himself.

"Yeah, Deidara. You were so hyped up last year. You bought so much malt candy! Too high on sugar, I suppose. You were jumping around like a mad man," added Zabuza.

"Nooo, make it mad _woman." _Haku laughed as Deidara's face darkened a little.

"Shut up! I'm not a woman, so snap out of it!"

"Oh yeah, yeah! Will you be wearing a girl's kimono or a boy's kimono? Actually they're about the _same_, since you look girly no matter what you wear! Look at your lovely, princess-fairytale-dream-girl-golden hair," Zabuza ruffled Deidara's long hair, messing it up and angering the latter.

"SHUT UP! What rubbish is that? I like my hair long, what's the problem? And I am not a girl!" he yelled in frustration.

**"L-O-L! **Touchy, touchy. Tobi would be pleased if you were a girl," said Haku.

_"Tobi?!" _

"Yeah, he always gives you a nice, yet un-tasty bento for lunch every single day, even though he is in another class," pointed out Zabuza, "and Katou always gives his dearest girlfriend a bento box every single day too...see the connection?"

"No," replied Deidara.

Haku sighed. "You're so dumb, seriously. Why would Tobi give you a bento box every single day without fail? Think about it!"

"Cos' I'm his friend and neighbour. Or cos' he feels like cooking. And wants me to be his guinea pig. You think I am _stupid?!"_

"You _are_," said Zabuza, slapping his forehead with his hand, "I wonder how you'll be able to get a girl. Ever thought about your future, Deidara? Doubt so. Well, maybe I should give you a few tips to start off - "

"Tips?! What tips?!"

"Sigh, poor_ Tobi-san _... oh look, there he is now. See, he always waits for you after school. How nice." Haku pointed at the doorway, where Tobi was standing there silently. Tobi smiled as soon as Deidara looked at him, and waved cheerfully.

"Hn, _Tobi-kun." _muttered Deidara sarcastically as he grabbed his bag and said a quick goodbye to his classmates, who watched him storm out of the door and start scolding Tobi for goodness-knows-what-reason. They sighed in unison.

"Looks like a lot of effort is needed for him to get Deidara to like him," said Zabuza sympathetically.

* * *

"Deidara, Tobi's here," said Konan as she peeped into the boy's room. He was in a great fluster - textbooks were strewn all over the floor, and he was busy mulling over a difficult maths question. His hair was also in a mess, and his blanket lay crumpled on the bed. It was not exactly a pleasant sight.

"H - hn.." Deidara mumbled as he gripped his ballpoint pen tighter, not really paying attention to Konan's words. The older woman sighed, and made her way into the room. She looked over Deidara's shoulder and smiled.

"The answer is 2538," she said, making Deidara jump, "and Tobi's here to pick you up for the Lantern Festival."

"2538...hn? but it's only 5pm!" Deidara said as he tapped his fingers on the keys of his calculator.

"Well, he must be pretty excited for the festival," said Konan, as walked over to Deidara's closet.

"I don't really give a hoot," Deidara said as he wrote down the answer in his maths workbook.

Konan frowned. "Deidara, don't be mean. Tobi means well - if you guys go there early, there will be less hustle-and-bustle in the crowd. You've always been so mean to him since young."

"Ch, I don't really care so much. Tobi's a moron - he told me to be ready by 6pm, hn. And besides, I haven't completed my homework! It was due_ last week_, Konan-san," said Deidara, feeling irritated.

"Well, I don't care too, you'll have to dress up now. I'll expect you in five minutes, from now. It's not good to make guests wait," said Konan sharply, and left the room immediately. Deidara sighed, and closed his maths workbook reluctantly. It wasn't good to anger Konan, for one thing.

Stepping over a pile of chemistry and literature books, he went over to his closet and pulled out a pair of black jeans, a collar-tee, a checkered tie and a brown jacket. As he lazily unbuttoned his school shirt and took it off, Tobi popped his head into the room.

"Hello Deidara!" he said cheerfully, giving Deidara a huge shock. The latter spun around, his mouth wide open. Upon seeing that it was Tobi, he quickly covered himself with the shirt.

"What the hell are you doing, hn?!" he yelled, blushing furiously.

Tobi cheeks turned red. "Just checking on you..." he said quietly as he quickly turned around, "I'm - I'm sorry - "

_"Get the hell out of here, Tobi!" _Deidara picked up his 1240 page-long literature book and flung it forcefully at Tobi's face, missing the target by a mere 3cm. Scuttling into the living room, Tobi heaved a sigh of relief and sat down on the couch beside Hidan, who was watching the news.

"Hmm? Dumbass, so what did you do this time?" Hidan asked, grinning as he heard a loud SLAM from the corridor.

"...I accidentally walked into his room while he was changing," replied Tobi.

"Pervert, aren't you? Are you that desperate?" The older man laughed as he reached for a packet of crisps.

"N-no! I'm not! I just wanted to check if he was ready to go..." Tobi said, twiddling his thumbs.

Hidan smiled. "Well, does he know that there are fireworks to be seen later?"

"No," answered Tobi.

"Ha! I tell you, Deidara-chan's a huge fan of fireworks. Buy him malt candy, and take him to some quiet place to view those exploding pretties - he'll thank you for sure." Hidan stuffed his mouth full with crisps.

Tobi's eyes widened. "Really?"

"Why'd I lie to you? Anyway, I'll be coming along with you two peeps. Pein's orders."

"Why?"

"Well, for some stuff. For one, Pein and Konan aren't free today. Number two, I wanna go play some games too. My boss has been yakking non-stop at us workers everyday like a bloody freaking parrot and I need to unload some stress..."

At this point, Deidara smacked Hidan on the head with a rolled-up magazine. "You're going too?" he asked, looking disdainfully at Hidan.

"Ow! Yeah, Deidara-chan. Can't say no today. And don't hit me with that damned thing - "

"Whatever," said Deidara as he dropped the magazine onto the couch. He then made his way towards the door.

"Oi, Tobi, are you coming or not?" he asked as he opened the door.

"Ah - ah yes!" Tobi stood up abruptly and quickly ran after Deidara. Hidan sighed, and turned off the television. As he walked towards the door, Pein looked out from the kitchen.

"Hidan, take good care of them. Tonight would be a perfect opportunity for that person," he said.

Hidan smirked. "Of course. You found out who the bastard is?"

Pein nodded. "Thanks to Konan. It's ... _you-know-who."_

"You don't mean that bastard..."

"Of course, I do mean_ that _bastard," said Pein.

"I doubt he would even go for festivals, Pein," Hidan said thoughtfully, "he's not exactly the happy-go-lucky sort of person who'd be interested in candy floss and bursting water bombs and playing with sparklers."

Konan sighed as she took off her apron. "We'll never know, Hidan. That fellow is unpredictable. After all, he joined us once he heard that Itachi had agreed to join our team. It was all a plot to get Itachi's body. And he was with us when we discussed about Deidara's condition. Now he's left, he's gonna do everything to get great power. You see, he even tried to take over Uchiha Sasuke's body."

"Also, he's planning to overthrow the government once he gets great power. We found out that he's been plotting to get Deidara's power," Pein added.

"Fuck him and his evil plans," said Hidan, "but are you sure that guy will come out tonight?"

"Not sure, but its always good to be safe than sorry," said Konan as she poured a cup of tea for herself, "that guy's a wreck, and our sworn enemy."

"Would you expect him to bake you apple pies and pour you some earl grey tea?" Hidan scoffed, "after all, he's Orochimaru." With that, he waved goodbye and left the house.

* * *

The festival grounds were fairly crowded by the time the trio had reached. The sun was setting, and most stalls were already open. Little kids were carrying colourful, lit lanterns and were running wild in the nearby field. Some people were playing with coloured sparklers, and others were eating dango by the koi pond. The sky was painted a lovely orange and red, and the cool breeze rustled the leaves of the magnificent willows which stood over the clear waters of the pond. Many people were eating dango and unagi rice beside the pond, and were waiting patiently for the stars to dot the soon-to-be night sky.

Hidan felt his pocket vibrate as his cellphone rang for a second. He lazily pulled it out of his pocket and flipped it open, only to find that Itachi had left a message for him. He smirked and looked up at the two boys, only to find that Deidara had gone completely wild. He was pulling on Tobi's hand, much to the latter's delight and surprise, and was now in front of a malt candy stall. His eyes were all sparkly, and was scaring poor Tobi.

"Please give me fifteen containers of malt candy please," chirped Deidara as he smiled happily at the stall owner, who immediately gave it to him without any hesitation.

"Enjoy, young man," he said in a rather malicious tone, pushing up his steel-rimmed glasses.

"I will," replied Deidara cheerfully as he paid the man and quickly popped one stick of malt candy into his mouth and savoured the sweet treat happily, while still pulling on Tobi's hand. Tobi was overjoyed. It seemed like Deidara was in a good mood now.

"Hey, Itachi and Kisame are coming over now; their in a nearby shopping plaza," said Hidan as he came up to the two boys. He noticed the stall owner, whose eyes met his. Something felt wrong here.

"Hmm, Mister, do you have an interest for malt candy too?" asked the stall owner, smiling at Hidan.

"No, I dislike sweet things," replied Hidan, examining the man for a moment before walking away slowly. That guy looked very familiar.

_'It's like I saw him somewhere before...'_ Hidan thought as he weaved through the crowd to get to where Deidara and Tobi was.

Meanwhile, the stall owner smirked, and pushed up his glasses again. He took out his cellphone and dialled the number of a familiar person which he knew very well.

"Hello? Yes, yes. Everything is going smoothly, _Orochimaru-sama." _

* * *

Meanwhile, Sasori had just reached the Willow Gardens (where the festival was being held) with the rest of his friends and was feeling a little awkward. He had been forced to wear a kimono to the festival (by Ino of course, who had requested that everyone should wear a kimono) and was not feeling very happy about it.

"Cheer up, Sasori," said Shikamaru as they walked past a games stall, "Ino's like that, as you know. Just bear with it for one night - everything's gonna be okay."

"Shikamaru, you sound like I'm really, really wishing with all my heart that I'd never ever have to see another kimono again," said Sasori.

"That's not what I meant." Shikamaru sighed, "just let those women and Chouji eat their fill, and we can go," he said.

Upon hearing this Ino practically shrieked into poor Shikamaru's ear. "OI, SHIKAMARU! I heard that, now don't influence Sasori - "

"I'm not!" Shikamaru argued, as Hinata tried to calm things down.

"Alright, whatever! Enjoy tonight's great atmosphere, and don't complain. Now what do you guys wanna eat?"

Naruto was the first person to speak up. "RAMEN!" he hollered.

"Shut up, Naruto. You might as well buy a whole stack of cup ramen and some hot water, and eat them at home." Sakura groaned and resisted the urge to box Naruto.

"...how about dango? Then we can play with sparklers in the field." Hinata said quietly.

Kiba clapped his hands together. "I sincerely agree on that," he said.

"Alright then, we shall go to the dango stall. Lead the way, Shikamaru!" Ino pointed at the slightly irritated man.

"Huh, why me - "

"NOW!"

"...whatever, Yamanaka Ino."

As they made their way through the crowd, Team Defence passed by Deidara, Tobi and Hidan. Both parties did not see each other, thanks to the wall of people which blocked their view. But Sasori's eye caught a glimpse of Deidara's long, golden hair and paused for a brief moment.

_'That person looks like...Deidara.'_

He watched as the boy disappeared into the sea of people as Sakura tapped him on the shoulder.

"Hey, what's up? You were spacing out," she said gently.

"Hmm, nothing," replied Sasori, "just a friend. But, it might not be him too..."

Sakura smiled. "Silly, you must have seen someone else," she said as she took Sasori's hand, "now, lets go eat some takoyaki; then we can go buy some sparklers to play with!" With that, she pulled Sasori towards a nearby stall.

Twenty minutes later, Deidara had eaten up his fifteen containers of malt candy, and was somehow feeling sick in the stomach. Also, he was feeling very groggy. Tobi was very worried; Hidan had gone to find Itachi, and both him and Deidara were left sitting in the middle of a quiet willow grove. With a packet of half-eaten Unagi rice and fifteen empty containers, of course.

"Tobi..." he mumbled as he lay sleepily on soft grass.

Tobi quickly scrambled over to Deidara's side. "Are you okay? How do you feel?"

"...Sleepy, hn."

"Sleepy?!" Tobi could not believe his ears. "But malt candy doesn't make you sleepy!"

"I don't - don't know..." Deidara's voice trailed off as his body fell limply onto the grass. Tobi shook him hard with both hands.

"Deidara!" Tobi blushed as soon as he realized that he was hugging Deidara, but quickly shook his head and put the unconscious boy down onto the grass.

"I'll call Hidan-san," said Tobi as he ran back to his bag and pulled out his cellphone, but someone else kicked the device out of his hand. Damn, it was at this most crucial time when someone had to interfere.

"Hmmm? Now, if it isn't the weakling of the Akatsuki," taunted a familiar voice. Tobi stared at the figure standing behind him. It turned out to be a familiar bad guy called Orochimaru.

"Orochimaru?" Tobi's eyes widened as he saw Kabuto land beside Deidara and pick the unconscious boy up.

"You - you - what are you intending to do with Deidara? Put him down now!" Tobi yelled.

"Tsk, tsk, you timid little rat. You really care so much for him, do you? But does he treat you the same way you treat him? Now, we're just going to whisk him away for a little _holiday - " _Orochimaru said as he made his way over to Deidara, "and that's simply all." He licked Deidara's cheek with his long tongue, infuriating Tobi even more.

"Stop it!" he cried as Kabuto laughed, and stepped out, handing Deidara over to Orochimaru.

"I'll deal with you first, since you're such an annoyance." With that, Kabuto picked up a stone and held it with both his hands. It turned into a bomb, and the bespectacled man threw it at Tobi forcefully. Dodging it, Tobi formed a huge flame within his palm and aimed it Kabuto.

Kabuto smirked and clapped his hands together. A huge block of ice appeared out of nowhere, and deflected the flame attack. "You're really weak, like what Orochimaru said. It seems that you only know the basic attacks. No wonder Deidara-kun doesn't like you at all," he said.

"What?!" Tobi clenched his fist and a stone shard appeared in his hand. He thrust it at Kabuto, who simply just hit it away, as if the shard was a marshmallow.

"I said, Deidara-kun doesn't like you cos' you're weak." Kabuto smirked and folded his arms.

"You - you - shut up and return Deidara to me!" Tobi managed to croak out.

"You think we're gonna return your little girl back to you?" Kabuto asked, "no we aren't, kid, cos' we aren't playing games. You wanna know why your girl's like this?"

"You did something to Deidara?!"

"No mistake - I sold him some malt candy earlier on, and the candy was spiked," said Kabuto, "didn't you know that?"

"What?! You scumbag - "

"Now just shut up!' Kabuto attack hit Tobi's head and arm hard, and blood started to trickle out from the wound.

"D - damn you..."

Tobi looked at Deidara's limp form in Orochimaru's arms, and his heart pounded fast. He had to think of something fast, or he wouldn't be able to get Deidara back. But he knew that he couldn't defeat Kabuto, since he was only a newbie and only knew basic elemental attacks and some magic. The only way he knew how to beat the two people, was to summon his inner guardian, Madara.

Tobi was actually the reincarnation of Madara Uchiha, a devious yet strategic killer. Three months ago, when Tobi was accepted into the Akatsuki, Madara's soul latched onto his heart and said that he would be there whenever Tobi needed him. But Pein forbade Tobi to summon Madara, in case Madara took over his whole body and started killing people on the streets. He did not trust Madara.

_'But this is an emergency, surely Pein-san won't mind..'_ Tobi thought, and started to summon Madara Uchiha's spirit out of his heart. His own soul started to sink back into his heart as Madara's slowly came out and took over his whole body.

_**'I henceforth call upon my inner guardian, Madara Uchiha.' **_

Slowly but surely, Tobi's soul slid back into his heart and Madara's soul came out. Seconds later, the summoning was complete.

"Hmm? Orochimaru, I see that you've taken Tobi's friend," said Madara, grinning.

Orochimaru was slightly taken aback by this. "Who - who are_ you?!" _he asked as he re-examined the boy which stood a few metres away from him. Yes, it was the same person Kabuto was thrashing a few minutes ago, but now, the voice coming from the boy was completely different. Or rather, the tone. It was way to confident for comfort.

"Aw, you've forgotten me," said Madara as he stretched out a hand. An electric sword appeared and he grabbed it. "C'mon, lets battle, Kabuto. Once I've finished you I'll finish up your master."

Kabuto's eyes were wide. This level of magic was way too high - he definitely could not handle it. But anyway, he still chose to fight and attacked Madara with ice shards. He needed to protect Orochimaru.

Madara swatted the ice shards away easily and smiled. With a flick of his sword, lightning sparks hit Kabuto and shocked his entire body.

"Now, now, I mustn't get too serious here, or dear Tobi will be charged with murder," said Madara as black ropes suddenly appeared out of nowhere and tied Kabuto to a nearby willow tree. Orochimaru's face was paler than usual - he could not believe what he was seeing.

"I'm Madara Uchiha, you fool," said Madara as he walked towards Orochimaru slowly, "now drop the boy and everything will be fine."

"Heh, you think I'll listen to you?" Orochimaru tried to keep up his confident appearance, but it all ended when Madara got irritated.

"Fool, since you don't believe me, I'm gonna whack your ass._ Mangekyou Sharingan." _

And everything ended nicely with Orochimaru falling onto the floor in two seconds.

* * *

Hidan rushed back to the willow grove with Itachi and Kisame. They had run into some Night Hunters along the way back, and were worried. As soon as the trio reached Tobi, they had a shock.

"Great Jashin," he gasped as he took a second look at Tobi, "is that _Malaria!?"_

"Tobi" turned around, slowly deactivating his Mangekyo Sharingan. "Hmm, it's** Madara,** you bastard. Anyway, good day to you peeps, but it's time I got back into my shell." With that, he switched souls with Tobi and everything returned back to normal.

Itachi looked at Deidara, who was now lying unconscious on the floor beside Orochimaru. He picked him up slowly and gently slapped his face.

"Hey, sleeping beauty, you're gonna be late for school," he said as Deidara's eyes slowly flickered open.

"Wh - what's going on?" he asked quietly.

"Your ass just got saved by Tobi," answered Hidan, "Or rather, Madara. See, he's injured." He pointed to Tobi's forehead and right arm.

Deidara stood up and walked over to Tobi, who was smiling sheepishly at him. Gently, Deidara reached for a small handkerchief in his pocket and proceeded to wipe the blood off. Tobi stared in surprise.

"Thanks, stupid. I owe you a meal for this. You didn't have to do that - "

"I wanted to." Tobi flashed his goofy megawatt smile as Deidara smacked his shoulder.

"Dangerous, Tobi! Dangerous! If Pein finds out that you summoned Madara, you're dead, hn!"

"...hehe."

"What 'hehe'? Hn?"

"OK, ok," said Kisame finally, holding out his hands, "its a time-out. Now, lets go play with some sparklers, shall we?"

"Alright," said Itachi, "but I need to make a call, so why don't you guys go off first? I'll join you later."

"Same here," said Hidan, "I need to tell Kakuzu something, but the festival grounds are too noisy. Go ahead, enjoy yourselves."

"..Okay. See you then." With that, Kisame left the willow grove with Deidara and Tobi.

Itachi sighed. He then turned to Hidan. "You know what's happening, right? In about 1 minutes' time - "

"Yeah." Hidan checked his watch. "They've been following us since we killed the Night Hunters."

"Well, about 35 seconds left - "

"It's a good thing they only saw you, Kisame and me."

"I guess. If they saw Deidara and Tobi, there'd be more trouble."

"Well, ten seconds left - "

"..."

Suddenly, a solemn voice rang out from the bushes. "I see, so you guys really wish to be caught?"

Three people stood in front of Itachi and Hidan. They were wearing kimonos and looked very displeased.

"Could it be that you guys are from the government?" Hidan asked, folding his arms, "or to be precise; Ino, Hinata, Naruto."

"So, you guys know already?" Ino asked, smiling, "we just happened to pass by and chance upon you guys killing some Night Hunters, so we decided to come and look for you."

"...so you guys are from the government. That explains everything," said Itachi.

"Itachi-san, I never expected you and Kisame-san to be part of an illegal group," said Naruto, "I think we'll be having lots of trouble getting along in class from now on."

"Heh, and you crybabies think that you'll be able to capture us so easily? Especially while wearing those kimonos." Hidan smirked.

"Enough said, lets go!" Ino yelled.

"Well, have fun injuring yourselves then. Good luck," said Hidan, grinning.


	8. Festival Fights Part 2

**Chapter 8 **

"Alright, since we're all armed with sparklers and dango, lets head over to that field over there!" Tobi said excitedly, his arms loaded with boxes of coloured sparklers. Deidara and Kisame nodded in agreement, and ran after him.

The field was a very wide open space in the middle of the festival grounds. Lots of children dressed in kimonos were holding lighted sparklers and running around, chasing each other. The sparklers were like mystical magic wands, and caught Deidara's attention immediately as soon as they had found a spot to sit on.

"Oohh...those sparklers are so pretty, hn," he mumbled to himself as he watched a few small kids run past him, waving those lighted metal "splints" in the dark. Now you see, glowsticks weren't as pretty and exciting when it came to playing with sparklers outdoors.

Tobi smiled and looked at his injury on his arm as he unwrapped a box of sparklers. His heart felt all warm and tingly as he remembered that moment when Deidara had torn part of his shirt and used the cloth to bandage up the bleeding wound. Oh heavens, how _heavenly_ that moment was -

"Hey, Tobi, unwrap those sparklers, would you? You're staring at your injury - is it painful?" Kisame asked as he ate some dango.

"Uh - uh - no, it isn't painful," replied Tobi quickly, snapping out of his thoughts and hastily unwrapping the box of pink sparklers, "just itchy."

Kisame chuckled. "Don't worry," he said reassuringly, "the itch will go away sooner or later, so just bear with it for a few more days, okay?" He brought out a box of matches and a packet of candles. He lit a match and melted the bottom of four candles. Before they cooled and hardened, he stuck them onto a nearby rock and lit them. They glowed in the darkness, like fireflies, but only brighter.

"Alright, Deidara, come and light a sparkler!" Kisame called to the youngster standing out in the field, admiring the pretty sight of the sparklers, and the loud "PIU!" sound they made when they were lit.

"Geez, he looks like a kid who's just seen a candy rack," said Kisame, "but you can't blame him; I guess this would be his first time he's ever seen sparklers..." He smiled and proceeded to light a blue sparkler.

"PIUUUUUU!"

Deidara spun round, only to see Tobi covering his ears and Kisame holding a lighted sparkler. The older man was waving it around like a magic wand, and the light seemed to leave a trail of golden light in the air everytime Kisame waved it about.

Kisame grinned. "Now, why don't you try it for yourself?" he asked Deidara, holding out a yellow sparkler to Deidara, who was standing 2 metres away from him.

Slowly, Deidara walked towards the outstretched hand and took the sparkler. He moved the metal stick closer to the lit candle, and watched as the small flame burned the tip of the sparkler. Seconds later, a loud "PIU" sound was heard echoing throughout the night sky; the sparkler was lit and the flame was nice and bright.

Deidara's eyes sparkled like polished diamonds as he waved the sparkler in the air and ran around like a child, obviously feeling very elated. Tobi felt himself blush as he witnessed this; it was so beautiful. Deidara's face was illuminated by the bright glow of the sparkler, and what's more, he was smiling.

"..." Tobi was unable to say anything. He watched as Deidara's sparkler went out after a moment, and the latter's face held a disappointed look. After looking at the burnt tip of the sparkler, Deidara seemed to have gotten an idea, and he quickly ran over to the boxes of sparklers. Discarding the burnt sparkler, he lit two orange sparklers and ran to an empty spot on the field.

"Huh? Deidara, where are you going?" Kisame asked, chewing on his dango.

"Kisame-san, Tobi, watch me! I'm gonna perform!" he called out, and stretched out his two arms. He turned around and around, and leaped gracefully off the ground, like a real dancer. The bright light of the sparklers left glowing trails of temporary light behind them as Deidara skilfully flicked his wrists and withdrew his arms back again. Tobi and Kisame were caught by this sudden performance.

"Deidara, you..." Tobi stopped halfway, unable to say anything more. It was too beautiful.

"...he's certainly got a talent for dancing, don't you think?" Kisame asked, lighting a blue sparkler.

Now, on the other side of the field, Sasori and Sakura were playing with sparklers too. Sasori was lazily munching his dango, and Sakura was lighting up some candles. But the wind was too strong, and soon, all the flames were out, and all the matches were used up. She sighed as she stood up.

"Do you think we could borrow some matches from - Sasori? What are you staring at..."

Sasori had dropped his stick of dango onto the grass, and was staring wide-eyed at a certain person dancing so freely on the field. Needless to say, he was captivated by the beauty of the whole scene. But that didn't end there.

"It looks a lot like...Deidara," he muttered as he stood up slowly.

"...the person whom we met at the BBQ shop?" Sakura asked as she looked at the moving figure. Slowly but surely, the lights of the two sparklers in Deidara's hands were going out. Soon, darkness took over the spot which used to glow with bright radiance.

"...Lets go, shall we?"

Sakura looked up at the redhead. "Huh?"

"Over there. The wind shouldn't be too strong over there. Besides, I'd like to say hello to him," said Sasori as he looked at his friend.

Sakura felt a pang of jealousy hit her as she nodded slowly. Sasori was never this enthuasastic about being at the festival, until now. She sighed and helped Sasori carry the boxes of sparklers and candles over to the rocks where Kisame and Tobi was. As the duo made their way over, Deidara walked over, and gasped.

"Ah, you're Sasori!" he said as he took a closer look at the redhead, who smiled, much to Sakura's dismay.

"Yeah, and you're Deidara," said Sasori, "say, were you dancing just now? It was pretty much a spectacular sight."

Deidara's ears turned pink. "Ah...that was a dance from last year's school parade," he said sheepishly, "you saw me?"

"Yep. From the other side of the field," answered Sasori.

Kisame examined Sasori. "Hey, Deidara, is this your friend?" he asked, pointing at Sasori.

"We met at the bookstore," replied Deidara cheerfully, picking up another sparkler, "and you're Sakura, right?" He looked at the pink-haired girl, who smiled back at him.

"Hello, I'm Sakura Haruno," she said as she tried to hide the displeasure she was feeling.

"She's my classmate and friend," said Sasori, "and say, could you please let us borrow some flames?"

"Flames?" Kisame repeated, "as in, the fire for your sparklers? Go ahead, we have plenty." He stepped aside, revealing four lit candles sitting on a flat rock.

Deidara smiled. "C'mon, lets plaaaay!" he exclaimed as he grabbed two sparklers and lit them. He took Sasori's hand and led him to the middle of the field, and handed him one sparkler. Both of them laughed and waved the lit sparklers about, until both of them somehow managed to collapse on the grassy floor.

Sakura looked quietly at the whole situation before her very eyes. As she turned around to light a sparkler, she noticed Tobi standing quietly by the side, watching Deidara play with Sasori, and realized that he didn't look very happy. She somehow felt that she had something in common with the boy, and asked, "are you okay?"

Tobi looked at Sakura for awhile, then forced a smile. "Yeah," he lied, turning around and sitting down on one of the bigger rocks, "em...is Sasori-san your boyfriend?"

"Eh?! N-no..." Sakura stuttered, surprised by the sudden question. _'But I'd be really happy if he was...'_

"Oh...I see." Tobi shuffled his feet uncomfortably. 'So, Sasori-san isn't Sakura-san's boyfriend...' He looked enviously at Deidara who was jumping about like a playful monkey.

"You're Deidara's friend, aren't you?" Sakura asked, looking at the shy boy. Tobi nodded silently, without looking back at the girl. _'Though I wish I could be something more than that...'_

"I...see." Sakura watched as Sasori's sparkler went out, followed by Deidara's._ 'So, this boy must be another illegal fighter ... and that shark-looking man over there...' _she thought, referring to Kisame.

Deidara and Sasori walked over half a minute later, panting heavily. Sakura had never seen Sasori let himself go this much before - he was completely relaxed and happy. The pink-haired lady was jealous - so far, the "Ice King" had never melted to her, yet he was melting so quickly with this mere 'acquaintance' of his? Was it because of the sparklers, or was it because of other things? Sakura could not help wonder.

Tobi was also confused - why was it that Deidara could be so nice to a stranger? An _almost-stranger_, or so he thought. He didn't like it - why was it that Deidara treated him like an ordinary friend when he had tried so hard, but to this almost-stranger, he treated him as if they were best friends...

"Hey, Tobi, hn! Whatcha thinking?" Deidara's voice snapped Tobi out of his thoughts.

"H-huh?"

"Haha, dumbass," said Deidara, laughing, "now, here. You've been spacing out for quite a while now. I've been watching you from afar, you know." He handed Tobi a lit sparkler as Tobi blushed.

_'Been watching me...from afar?'_

"Now, c'mon. Lets go play. Ah, Sakura, lets go play too! If you're like this lazy guy called Kisame who only knows how to eat dango," he eyed Kisame, "then there'll be no fun in your life! Lets go to the field now!" He grabbed Sakura's and Tobi's arms, and led them to the middle of the field. After that, he rushed back to light six sparklers, and gasped in wonder as they lit up quickly. Handing one each to Tobi, Sakura and Sasori, he started dancing about again. He was so happy that Sakura felt somewhat touched by his childishness. In the government sector, almost everyone was somewhat solemn and tied down by work. There was no room for such innocent, pure happiness and whatsoever.

But still, she didn't feel so comfortable after seeing Deidara hold Sasori's hand again. She wondered why the redhead didn't bother to shake it off and keep his distance, like he usually did to other girls, including Sakura.

_'Even when Shikamaru held his hand for a joke...he was not very pleased,' _she thought,_ 'but here he is, enjoying every second of it! What's with that Deidara boy...does he possess some kind of magic power - of cupid, possibly?'_

Suddenly, Deidara tripped over a rock in the field, and lost his balance as the sparklers in his hand fell onto grass. Sasori's eyes widened as the younger boy fell onto his chest hard. He too, dropped his sparkler. Sakura and Tobi stared.

"Ugh..."

Sasori looked worried. He looked at Deidara as the latter slowly recovered from the shock. "Are you alright?" he asked.

"...I'm alright, thank you." Deidara said quietly, immediately withdrawing from Sasori's side. "I'm sorry..."

The redhead smiled a little. "It's okay, I'm glad you aren't hurt."

Deidara smiled back sheepishly, and stooped down to pick up the lit sparklers on the grass. He then handed one over to Sasori.

"Here," he silently, blushing unconsciously, "your sparkler..."

As Sasori took the sparkler from Deidara, jealousy raged within Tobi's and Sakura's hearts. Sakura's mouth was wide-open in shock, and Tobi was taken aback by what he had just seen.

_'That...what was that?!'_

_'Sasori was blushing; I am positive that I saw it!' _

_'...was that on purpose?!' _

_'But they're merely acquaintances...'_

_'Deidara...hugged Sasori-san?' No, that's not a hug...right?'_

Suddenly, the air was filled with exploding sounds. Everyone looked up, only to find exploding flowers of fire, decorating the dark night sky. So colourful, so bright, so heartwarming...

Deidara was greatly amused and excited. He loved anything that exploded, especially fireworks. He stared with wide-open eyes at the lovely sight before him.

_Boom! Boom! Piuuuu! Boom! Crackle, crackle...BOOM! _

Sakura looked up at the sky. "Fireworks...they're so beautiful..." she whispered as turned to look at Sasori. She felt a bit sour as soon as she saw what was in front of her.

_'It was supposed to be me and Sasori, together...'_ she thought as she clenched her fist, _"two of us, watching those lovely fireworks ... so, why is this happening?'_

_'Ah, I forgot to tell Deidara about the fireworks,'_ thought Tobi as he looked at Deidara, who was thoroughly enjoying the show. His smile was so wide, so tender. Tobi felt his cheeks grow warm. But as his eyes spotted Sasori beside him, the green-eyed monster came again.

_'I wish...I was beside Deidara,' _he thought as he watched the redhead look up at the sky.

Sasori was currently standing beside Deidara, smiling at the wonderful fireworks. It certainly was a touching, heart-warming scene. He knew Sakura and the rest of Team Defence must've felt the same. A moment later, he realized that he was standing beside Deidara, and couldn't help staring at the younger boy's face.

Pure happiness. Sasori hadn't seen that in a long while. All he witnessed and seen were unhappy things, like deaths and injuries. This time, he was able to see for himself, what was true joy.

The redhead found his heart beating faster as he gazed at Deidara. For some reason, he felt a peculiar tingling sensation rush through him. The boy wasn't a movie star, or a pretty lady...sure, Deidara looked a bit like a girl, but even so, there was no reason for Sasori to feel like this.

It was something which he never experienced before. Sasori found himself lost in his thoughts as time seemed to stop altogether. He couldn't figure out what had just happened. What, and why? The great Sasori, who wasn't known to smile and feel happy, to feel warm inside, to have too many emotions ... and here he was, feeling confused, yet happy at the same time.

_**'This - this is...'**_

* * *

Meanwhile, Itachi and Hidan were busy fighting Ino and co.

"Say, how did you know about us, scumbag?" asked Naruto as a ball of energy formed in his right palm.

"I hacked the government archive and information bank a few weeks ago, and found your names and pictures," replied Hidan, grinning as he wielded his large scythe, which was glowing.

"In any case, we're gonna capture you two and take you all back to see Tsunade-sama!" Hinata said fiercely, clenching her fist. She then punched it forward, and the ground exploded below Hidan's feet. Hidan quickly leapt off his original spot, cursing.

"Lady Hinata," he said sarcastically, "if you wanna fight the hard way, I shall do it."

"Go ahead," barked Ino, "cos' Hinata isn't weak. In fact, she's stronger than you!"

"Pffh! Stuff and nonsense. Well, I'm getting tired of all this crap coming from you people," complained Hidan as his scythe suddenly disappeared into thin air.

"Played enough, Hidan?" Itachi asked in a monotonous voice.

"Yeah, sure did. But they aren't worth fighting. You can do the final touch now, Itachi. I don't wanna waste my energy on these people." With that, Hidan turned around and walked away casually, angering Naruto.

"Oi, you, stop there! What do you think we are? We aren't weak, so get back here and fight, dammit!" he shouted, charging towards Hidan suddenly, the energy sphere in his hands getting bigger and bigger by the second. Hidan sighed, spun around and smirked. His scythe suddenly appeared out of thin air, and he grabbed it and slashed Naruto's right arm quickly, destroying the energy sphere immediately.

"Geez, you're way too early to fight me, kiddo. It was fun playing with you kiddos, but I wanna grab some dango, so I'll let the intellectual professor, Itachi Uchiha, deal with you guys. Trust me, you'll be finished off within seconds." Hidan then walked away from the willow grove. Naruto glared at his back, then directed his fury towards Itachi.

"Heh," he said cockily, "it'll be even easier to capture you now, jerk."

"Yeah," added Ino, "after all, what could you possibly do alone? Look, your comrade has left you...how pathetic."

Itachi didn't say anything. He merely raised his arm and rested his eyes on Naruto. Out of nowhere, a large blue flame burnt Naruto's entire body, making him yell out in pain. Ino gasped, and Hinata stared in shock.

Finally, the naive boy fell to the ground, half-dead. There weren't any burns or wounds on his body, strangely. But, his face was pale, and his pulse was very weak.

"Naruto-kun!" Hinata ran towards the injured teenager and knelt down beside him. No response.

Ino looked angrily at Itachi, her eyes filled with horror and rage. She gritted her teeth as Itachi checked his watch.

"It's already 12.30am, Ino-san. I've gotta check on my friends. I won't be staying here any longer. Do take Naruto-kun home and let him drink plenty of water," said the Uchiha, giving her one last cold look. With that, he simply walked off.

Ino could not contain her anger anymore. She shook her fist at Itachi and yelled, "You're gonna pay for this, Uchiha Itachi! And all your illegal-attacker friends!"

Itachi did not reply. Instead, he continued walking out of the willow grove, until he reached the brightly-lit festival stalls.

_'...He must be taking part in the GMC too, since he knows how to use magic,'_ thought Ino as a bead of sweat rolled down her forehead, _'in that case, we can find out more about him and his comrades if we search through the info library.'_

She then helped Naruto up, together with Hinata, and they brought him home immediately.


End file.
